


The Show Must Go On

by RivenAnsen



Category: RWBY, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Conspiracy, Drama, Family, Fluff, Gen, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable, Mystery, Suspense, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21847357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RivenAnsen/pseuds/RivenAnsen
Summary: When the universe spiraled into its rebirth, there were those banished to the very corners of space and time that were not spared the fate of Gravity. Kira Yoshikage, the sociopathic serial killer who had met an unfortunate end at the hands of fate, was one such soul. Kira is reborn into this new universe of color, and only time will tell if the monster within yet remains.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	1. Prologue

When he imagined hell it came as no surprise that the first image to appear in his mind was of flames. Of burning pyres, scorched rock, and hideous demons wielding pitchforks to plague the damned boiling in pits of flame. Or, at times, he would imagine the deep crypts of torment described in Dante's Inferno; a book he read so very long ago. The nine circles of hell, all designed to house the damned souls based upon their personal sin.

Preposterous. Such a concept had never bothered him, despite how amusing it was to consider at times. No, there was no god that would judge souls upon death, and there was no purgatory for a resting soul. Life simply snuffed itself out, like a candle squeezed betwixt fingers on a cold night. Existing, and then fading away- to rest peacefully in an eternal slumber, a tranquil crescendo to a long life.

If there truly was an afterlife, then it would be nothing more than a grave. An abode for souls detached from punishment or reward.

There was no such thing for Kira Yoshikage.

What had that girl said? It would be somewhere he would not be able to rest in peace.

She had not been wrong.

For Kira Yoshikage, fate had seen fit to damn him with his own personal hell. Those ghostly hands had broken him down, both he and his stand, and stripped him of his humanity. His skin had been flayed off as he was dragged to the far corners of the universe, space thinning out until he felt as though he were being squeezed through a pinprick sized filament. Then they remodeled him back together and broke him all over again as he was brutally dragged into the truest hell imaginable.

The last thing he saw was her back turned to him, not even acknowledging his undoing. The peaceful buildings shrank into meaningless dots as he was forcefully stripped from his home.

When he finally reached his destination, or when the things finally saw fit to leave him, he was in the single most hateful place imaginable. It was as indescribable as it was awful.

In the beginning it was a void; blank darkness stretching as far as the eye could see with only the shattered remains of his stand to keep him company. Then, when he believed that this would be his punishment- to float in an unthinking unfeeling void for all eternity, it shattered. The blackness split open with an eardrum shattering shriek, an onslaught of colors exploding from the cracks as reality itself was rent to pieces before his very eyes.

His heart thudded maddeningly, his ears bled, and he could not tear his bloodshot eyes away from the horrible spectacle. The colors and shapes warped at an unthinkable tempo, the sheer fluctuations tossing him around like a ship upon a stormy sea. The assault of colors, bright enough to singe his very skin and tear away at his psyche made him beg to seal his eyes; to press his fingers into the sockets of his skull and crush his eyes into pulp; anything to escape that kaleidoscope of undulating madness. However, his fingers had long since been shattered into nebulous space dust, and his eyelids were too thin to ward off the light.

Coupled with it was that noise… that awful noise. Like nails on chalkboard, like rust on flesh, shattering glass, screaming torture victims; the noise was layered upon itself to be as soul crushingly loud as possible. At times it would shriek out with the pulsations rippling through the void, but at other times it would be off tempo; the lights would flare, and seconds later the screams would cry- a system that left him constantly on edge. He long since stopped trying to scream into the void to vent his terror and agony, it would only scream back at him.

Then, at times, it would cease. The coils of eldritch color would seep back into the cracks in the void, the noises would peter off into blank silence, and it all would return to a calm state. However, he felt no relief when this happened. He knew this was only a temporary refractory period. It would last long enough to lull him into a false sense of security, then the colors would return to shatter him just when he found peace. On and on, the process would repeat.

This was a special hell designed solely for Kira Yoshikage. The man who simply wanted to live a peaceful life, no matter the cost. Now, in the afterlife, he exists in a realm where it is simply impossible to find peace.

Yes. If hell existed, then Kira Yoshikage had certainly found it.

* * *

Kira Yoshikage collapsed to his knees. His haggard breaths echoed out in the silent blackness, each one more labored than the last. Sweat caked his forehead as he leaned forward to brace himself with his hands, cough after heave leaving his dry throat.

He was lucky, he had a floor this time. A reflective one, to stare into his tired eyes. In all the years of his incarceration, he had not aged a day. Around him, the shattered remains of **Killer Queen** floated tauntingly, his partner completely unresponsive yet still close by. It comforted him, even if only slightly.

Kira allowed himself to crumple to the floor, weakly panting as he rubbed at his eyes with the hands that had come back to him on this cycle. His suit bunched up, and his blonde locks fells unceremoniously to drape over his forehead. Any sign of the once handsome salaryman was gone; in his place was the broken shell of a spiteful spirit.

There was a time when he begged to be released, where he recanted his sins and pleaded for an end; that time had passed many years ago- now he only rested, and let his mind wander.

Inevitably, he thought of those brats. The conductors of his end. Where had it all gone wrong...? It was easy to blame Hayato. The son of the man whose face he stole. That nosy brat had always known something was off, the mask of Kosaku Kawajiri did nothing to shield his identity. One way or another, Hayato dragged him back into the light- and that damnable Joestar was there waiting for him.

But Hayato had not been the source of his downfall. Nor was Shigechi Yangu, the unremarkable bastard that stole his sandwich bag- the one who he was so sure could disappear without a single fuss. No, his great demise dated all the way back to one of his first victims; Reimi Sugimoto. The moment he took her life the clock had begun to slowly tick toward his doom; she was his first mistake, a soul that never truly left and spent 15 long years plotting his fall.

His father had even warned him of the possibility of lost souls roaming the streets of Morioh, but he still had never considered the possibility of paying retribution to one of his 'girlfriends'.

It was pointless pondering. **Bites the Dust** was unusable, he could not change the past anymore, and likely ever again. Even still, he did take pleasure in imagining the many ways he would exact his revenge if he ever left this hole.

However… his mind could not rest. He attempted to find solace in the momentary peace, yet something kept dragging his mind back to the front- as if something was calling for his attention.

Something was different.

It was a small, almost imperceptible change. But he felt it. With his face pressed against the invisible floor, he felt the vibrations. Though, calling them vibrations was dishonest. It felt more like something was moving just beneath the surface of this plane, coasting just beneath the skin of the fingertips pressed into the floor. He could only liken it to lying flat on a moving surface without actually going anywhere; the ground shifting like a carpet being pulled out from under him.

In fact, the very air was under the same pressure. As if some unseen force were slowly dragging this reality to a focal point. His blue eyes blinked in confusion as he haggardly forced himself up on his elbow, glancing around warily for some new awful punishment.

Movement caught his attention and swiftly he turned to the pinkish shards of **Killer Queen**. He watched with bated breath as the shards vibrated ever so slightly, trembling in the open space.

He didn't know what was happening, but his heart thudded with sheer terror as he reached out desperately, " **K** - **Killer Queen**!" He wheezed.

Then, without any warning, the remnants of his Stand were under motion. The pieces suddenly darted out into the vast unknown, a powerful force grabbing hold of them and whisking them away. The further they flew the more the murderer felt his very being tugged, and with a gasp of pure agony he felt something _snap._

A deep, lonely hollowness filled him. A cavernous hole remaining where something else once was. His shaking fingers pressed frantically against his chest; his manic fingers flying as he tried to press in on the vacancy he felt. His blue eyes shot up wide and terrified, and with less grace than a toddler he stumbled to his feet. Kira desperately went to give chase, but only succeeded in roughly collapsing back down when the floor shifted again.

Now he was being dragged. It was like he was a fly trapped in a vacuum; his entire essence was being drained into one invisible point. He desperately fought against the tide with clawed hands and heels pressed in, but it was pointless. There was nothing to grip, and as his tie lifted from the pulling force, he found himself giving in.

Not because of his broken spirit, or his lack of will, but rather because of a singular sight. There, far in the distance and growing larger with each passing moment, was a light. Not an intrusive light like those of the cycles, not one that seared his eyes or burned his mind. But a soft, gentle light. Like the flicker of a candle, or the peaking of the sunrise over a hill.

His mind was so taken with the almost alien sight, that all strength left him. For just a fleeting moment he felt peace, and he wanted to feel it again. Calmly, almost reverently, the punished man pushed himself to his knees and spread out his arms. Gently his eyes shut- a final noticeably softer breath leaving his throat.

As the void was eaten away and the light consumed the damned serial killer, disintegrating him into his base atoms, the universe spiraled into its end.

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

"Easy- Easy! Its over! You did it! If you grip his arm any harder you'll break it!" The Doctor shouted, trying to calm the woman as his aide tended to the other far more pressing matter. The heavily breathing woman locked her blood-red eyes on him, wild with pain and exhaustion, before she mutely nodded.

The blonde man at her side sighed when she slowly released his bruising arm. He gave the doctor a grateful nod, but still moved to tenderly grip his wife's hand. "There we go... You did it, hon. That wasn't so bad was it?"

The doctor pressed a cool rag against her forehead and made sure the equipment was steady before leaving the two's side. His aide gave a worried call to him, the intense sobbing coming from her arms making him hasten his stride to go assist her.

The black-haired woman glared at the man before collapsing back into the plush pillows, "Tai... I just gave birth to two of your children. I… am not in the mood for your jokes…" Her words were faintly weak, tinged with the exhaustion that the past hours had accumulated.

Yes, it had been a long few hours. Nobody had told Tai just how long an undertaking this would be, and he had paid for it with many unsuccessful attempts at rest. The fact that his wife had been at the helm for these long hours only reinforced just how amazing she truly was. Even more so when he took into consideration that she had reared _two_ children.

There had been no ultrasound. Tai had claimed he preferred it remain a secret, something that his wife grudgingly allowed. The second child was a complete surprise to both of them, and it had been a hard task for her- much harder than the first.

But… Twins! He was all giddy inside just _thinking_ it!

Tai chuckled softly and nodded, "I know, I know. My bad. I'm just… So happy." His sappy words made his wife look away irritably, but even she couldn't hide her smile.

"I don't know… One of you is more than enough already. I can't imagine having to deal with _three_ of you…Scary..."

"Very funny. But with my luck both of them are gonna end up like you. Now _that's_ scary." She scoffed, but didn't retort that. Tai looked back over to the similarly exhausted doctor, who was busy checking on his aide and procuring a couple small blankets. "How… How are they doc?"

The doctor, still completely obscured with his medical mask and goggles, gave them a thumbs-up as he pushed some of his equipment away to make more space in the room. "It looks like they're doing fine. They certainly didn't make it any easier for us- I think you're going to have your hands full for a long time with these ones."

The bedridden woman gave her own weak laugh, "I would have it no other way…"

"What did we get, doc?" Tai asked, making sure to wipe off some of the sweat on his wife.

"Well…" Finally the doctor pulled a loop of his mask off his ear, allowing him to speak more clearly to the two, "Our first born was male, and your second is a girl. Here…" Turning to his aide, he gently took one of the bundles before walking back over to the bed.

Pressing the bundle into the exhausted woman's arms, the doctor handed off her child. Mother and father gazed upon the still gently sobbing petite face of their daughter, small strands of golden hair peeking out from the soft blanket.

"Would you look at that Raven…"

Raven did look. Unmistakably, this was _hers_. And she could not stop the swell of pride she felt when she gazed upon her, even as she whined gently in her arms. "Tai… what did you say you wanted to call her if it was a girl?"

"Easy. Yang. I've been sitting on that for weeks." Tai's answers was immediate, even if it was uninspired, "Yang Xiao Long."

Raven nodded, gently pushing away a strand of hair from her face, "And for our boy?"

Tai grinned, "I was thinking-"

"D-Doctor?"

The two paused and glanced up at the doctor, as he spun around with confusion written all across his face. Quickly, he approached his aide and listened intently to her hushed frantic report. Quickly, he two the second bundle from her arms and pressed his stethoscope against it. Behind his glasses, it was unmistakable that his brow was furrowing tightly and his movements became more urgent.

"Hey… What's happening?" Tai's tone was unnerved, glancing between the doctor and the aide as they moved about.

"Keep them calm, I'll do what I can." The doctor gave the short command before stepping out of sight from the hanging sheets, to the immense shock of the two pertified parents.

The aide stepped forward quickly intercepting Tai before he could give chase, "There- There were complications sir. Your second child is having… trouble. We're doing everything we can for him."

Raven sat up abruptly, though paused when she realized she disturbed her daughter. Even still, there was clear panic in her eyes, "Trouble?! Wha- what do you mean?!"

"One moment the child was fine and the next… His breathing stopped. The doctor is attempting to resuscitate him now."

Immediately a chill pervaded the room. Her words were like the single bang of a nail in the coffin. Tai could barely work his mouth, and Raven simply stared in disbelief. Her spirit crushed at that one statement. One moment, things were completely fine. Now, it was like the weight of the world had fallen on their shoulders.

"Just stopped… What… Why? What happened to my son?" Tai's words were weak, his mind still not comprehending what he had just been told.

The aide looked down and away, but quickly gathered herself and professionally met his eyes. "We don't know… These things just happen. Its rare, but it does happen. Stillbirths are things that we cant predict."

Stillborn.

Tai staggered back, bracing himself against the bed as his heart raced. The aide pleaded with him about something, but he wasn't hearing it. Raven was in a similar state. He just couldn't believe it. It was the worst possible scenario; one that he hadn't even considered before simply because it was too awful to think about. Now it was becoming reality.

"Please sir! Do not lose hope! The doctor still believes there is a chance!"

"There…" He swallowed, daring to look up, "There's still a chance?"

"Yes! Just be patient sir… We are doing everything in our power. You must have hope!" The aide said stalwartly, meeting his wavering eyes. Slowly, he nodded, and moved back to his wife's side. Raven still didn't look good, she was pale and visibly shaking, but he still took her hand again. He had to be strong, for her if nothing else.

Hope, huh. Okay… He could do that. Hope to god for a miracle, because there was nothing more they could do.


	2. Chapter 2

A slam echoed from the wooden door, the abused entryway squealing in pain as a brutal force crashed into it; testing its durability to its upper limits. Such an abruptly loud noise pierced straight through the calm air of the morning, and forced a young man to sit bolt upright; the many comfortable sheets and linens flying off of him as he glanced around the room with wild terror.

Bed-frazzled blonde locks drifted over his forehead as he took in his relatively normal room. From the cabinets, to the soft carpeted floor, to the many toys and odd baubles strewn about that most certainly did not belong to him. Then he flinched back again, when another slightly more brutal crash shook the door at its hinges.

For a moment, one awful moment, he was worried that the lock would give way.

"Yin! Wake up already! You're gonna miss breakfast if you laze about you… lazyhead!"

The young man's heart eased, and his eyes closed with a sigh of annoyance. Glancing over, he looked at the clock situated on the table beside his small bed. 6:30… A whole half hour before he meticulously set his alarm to awaken himself. Damn it… She knew that he hated it when he was woken up before his alarm. Not as much as he hated waking up after it, but still.

Yin looked back over again when he saw the knob of his door jiggle for a moment, an exasperated groan coming from the other side of the door. "Ughh… Why do you keep locking your door?!"

Because if he didn't then he would never get a moment of peace. It wasn't that he sealed himself up at all times like she was implying, but sometimes he just wanted to be alone and not have to worry about calamatic unwanted guests that liked to make a mess of his room.

The door banged again, and this time a more distant and more mature voice called out, distinctly male, "Yang! Will you give it a rest? If you break down that door again I'll make you fix it!"

"Agh…! Fine, fine! Hurry up and get down here, Yin!"

With that, light footsteps rang out as he was finally left in peace. Yin stared at the door for a moment longer before letting out another weary sigh. With no small amount of reluctance, he pushed himself up further and smoothly swung his legs over the side of his bed.

He didn't get off just yet though. With smooth movements of his fair-skinned fingers, Yin reached up and gently took hold of the topmost button of his sleeping wear. Smoothly, firmly, he fixed it through the hole of his sleeping shirt, fixing his silken shirt back into the way he always wore it at nights and early mornings. Next, he firmly took hold of his errant hair with the palms of his hand and sweeped it backwards; pressing the blonde mess back into a more presentable state- still rough, but more refined.

Within a matter of moments, and with only the bare minimum amount of movements possible, his appearance was rectified into the state that he always preferred it to be. With that accomplished, Yin pushed himself off his bed- his relatively small form dropping down where he easily slipped his feet into a pair of slippers that he always left just beside his bed.

Muted steps accompanied his journey over to the bathroom where he swiftly handled his business, brushed his teeth (1 minute for the top row, and another for the bottom), and thoroughly washed his hands. An observer of this morning ritual may note that even with a time limit hanging over his head, the young man never increased his pace; he simply handled each task with the same precise process that he always had.

That wasn't to say that he was ignoring the situation at hand. Internally, he was counting off on an imaginary clock. A timer for how much longer he could get away with staying cooped up in his room. While Yang was unpredictable at best, he still knew what to expect after all these years. At his guess, he expected he only had another ten seconds before she would come back to wreak havoc on his door.

Luckily, he had long since perfected his morning ritual. With one last swipe of his hand on a hanging towel, he was finished and smoothly striding toward his door.

Though… he paused. Looking over his shoulder, he met his own blue eyes in the small mirror near his bed. For a small moment, he was overcome with an overwhelming sense of deja vu. A feeling that he had been experiencing more and more lately.

He held his gaze for a moment longer before shrugging his shoulders and exiting his room.

Yin kept close to the wall as he descended the stairs, to limit the amount the worn wooden steps groaned under his feet. As he stepped down, he was greeted to the lit kitchen and homely dining room of his home. Fine lights with a natural glow, a single table that could seat five people easily along with the cushioned wooden chairs to boot, and a kitchenette pressed into the corner for any purpose. Maybe cooking, but not always- Yin shuddered momentarily as he stepped off the last step.

In the area, he saw the various members of his family milling about. At the far corner, slaving away cheerily in the kitchen, was a much taller blonde man. Flitting about near him was girl that was even smaller than he was; a petite thing, with hair that walked the tenuous border between red and black. A welcome change to the sea of blonde.

Then of course there was her. The smug long blond haired girl at the table who grinned at him when he appeared.

"Well there you are! I thought I was gonna have to sneak in through your window and wake you up!"

Knowing her, she really meant that.

"Yang…" He muttered in that young, faintly serious voice he had. He stepped toward her and into the room, crossing his arms irritably. "I thought I told you that I don't want to be woken up early again. Did you forget?"

She blew a raspberry at him, "Oh c'mon! Who cares if you wake up a little early! What does it matter if you lose a couple minutes of sleep!"

No matter how many times he explained, she just never understood. "Yang. I make sure that I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. I could easily sleep until morning, and just like a baby I wake up without any fatigue or drowsiness . I really don't appreciate having that interrupted."

"Yeah yeah… You've said that about a million times." Yang scoffed nudging his cheek to his faint annoyance, "Its weird. Not even dad does stuff like that. You're weird." Her words were punctuated by the further warping of his cheek.

In one ear, out the other. He wasn't sure why he even bothered.

Yin rolled his eyes and pushed her finger away from him, "You should give it a try sometime, sister. You always wake up grouchy and sleepy. Maybe you'll actually _enjoy_ mornings."

"Nuh-uh! No way! I'm not becoming a weirdo like you!"

It was always like this. Yang took any chance to poke and prod at him for his habits. From the ritualistic stretching he did before bedtime to his tendency to always have lunch around the same time each day. She called it 'weird' or 'creepy' and took great pleasure in teasing him whenever possible. The teasing slipped off him like water. What was wrong with wanting to do things a certain way?

It was a peaceful way to live life, and he took great pleasure in following through with it. But peace was a bit of a non-goal. Living in this house, peace was about as rare as a blue moon. There were moments where he could be alone and luxure in his own hobbies, but most of the time the other members of this family were hard at play. And with Yang, she never failed to drag him into whatever she wanted; and he was powerless to stop her. Yes, there was never a day where he wasn't caused at least a little stress by his twin sister. And from the looks of this very early morning conversation, this day would be no different.

Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to hate her for it. Sure, being constantly interrupted by his lively sister could be an annoyance at times- but it was just her way of showing her love. Either way, he was partly to blame. He never truly tried to tell her off or weasel his way out of any of the games she had planned; a part of him surely enjoyed the chaos his sister caused.

It made his days more interesting, regardless of how much he stood by his preference for a linear day. Yang was… like spice added to an already perfect dish.

No… that sounded all wrong. He really should brush up on that book of similes, he had no idea what he was talking about now. The point still stood- apart from his father, he couldnt imagine being closer to anyone but his sister. Being twins just had that effect. Despite their different preferences and personalities, they shared many common interests and knew exactly how to waste time together. Off to the side, Yin heard a gleeful giggle and glanced over to see the other girl staring at them with bright eyes.

His left eye twitched.

"Yang. Ease up on your older brother. He's just looking out for you." The much taller blonde in the kitchen called to them, though whatever scolding he was doing was mitigated by the amused grin on his face.

Yin walked past his sister even as she muttered something about ' _older_ ' and ' _seconds_ ' under her breath. Gingerly, he took the plate his father offered him.

"I know your sister can be difficult, Yin." Taiyang began.

"Hey!"

"-But she means well. There's nothing wrong with eating breakfast together."

Yin nodded. Of course he understood. And he no problem with actually joining them. Despite how he acted, he would never just _skip out_ on a family meal. That was blasphemy.

As the patriarch went back to fixing more plates, the younger man glanced down at his own. Bacon, eggs, and toast. Relief flooded him. An actual breakfast, instead of a bowl of overly sugary cereal. Miracles really did happen. His father wasn't the best chef around, that title went to his mother, but he would take just about anything over that cereal his sister had stashed away.

More steps followed his seating at the table, and he watched as the final member of this oversized family came down the stairway. Much like the other girl, she had that red and black hair that so easily attracted attention. Only, she was significantly more mature and taller; and married to his father. His mother, Summer. Much like Yang, she was not a great morning person either- her half-lidded eyes and muted yawn making that clear as she entered.

"Good morning you all…" She mumbled, taking care to pull her robe tighter around her self. "Good morning Yin." She ruffled her hand through his hair, ruining its appearance in an instant. Yin scowled then fixed it back once she walked past him.

"Good morning Hon, sleep well?" Taiyang said as he set the last plate down, a smirk pulling at his mouth.

"Like a baby…" Summer giggled, greeting her husband in a way that Yin had no interest in watching.

Yang grumbled next to him, already digging into her food. "I'm getting tired of hearing that… ' _Like a baby_ '. Bleh…"

Yin pointedled ignored her grumbling and went at his own food. With markedly more grace than his sister. Soon the rest of the family joined the table, and the peacefully silent spell of the morning was broken. Eager conversation broke out, mother and father discussing the plans for the week or their thoughts on yesterday, while the young chirped in with their own scatterbrained thoughts or their interests.

Yin answered when necessary and made sure to always keep an ear open, but mostly stuck to finishing his meal. With how slowly he ate, he could still be at the table another minute longer after the rest had finished- especially with their pace.

"Ooh ooh! How about a campfire! That would be awesome…!"

Yin rolled his eyes, "Yang. Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yeah? Or what?" Yang smirked at him before opening her mouth wide, showing off the half-chewed food to him to his disgust. "Blehh-!"

Yin took his chance and flicked a peppercorn into her mouth.

Her mouth promptly clamped closed and she covered it with her hands, her face aghast. "Wah-! Hey! You jerk!"

…

"Yin. What kind of weapon are you going to get dad to train you with?" Yin paused in wiping his mouth to look across the table at the shortest of the family. Ruby Rose. His other, much younger sister.

He barely bit back his frown. He felt his metaphorical hackles raise, and his fingers clench under the table.

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

Immediately her eyes fell as she grew downcast, his dismissive tone not at all lost on her. "Oh… O-Okay…"

Taiyang shot him a look, and immediately he winced. Damn. While he wasn't fond of Ruby, for reasons that not even he could quite understand, that didn't mean he could just be so flippantly rude to her. Damage control.

"...What weapon do you think I should start using then?"

 _That_ set her off. Immediately the girl brightened up and launched into a long spiel, he only half listening and nodding along. His father was still shooting him that look every now and then, but at least he had avoided an actual scolding.

* * *

**Snap**

The nail clippers in his hand were a comforting weight. Each snap of its clips on his nails was music to his ears. His movements were practiced and filled with finesse, two clips to one finger, all with one full crescent moon lazily clattering down by the table in the living room.

**Snap**

A weight appeared on the couch, depressing the cushions ever so slightly. Yin glanced over to Yang as she looked at him curiously.

"...Are you doing that again?" She deadpanned, "Ever since mom taught you how to cut your nails yourself, you've been doing it like… all the time."

"Once a day isn't ' _all the time_ '."

**Snap**

Yang rolled her eyes, "It's still too much."

"Hmm… You'll understand when you're older." as he said that, he patted her head demeaningly. Immediately Yang glared at him with pure fire, and he yanked his hand back and went back to what he was doing- Yang had a bad record of _biting_ him when he teased her too much.

Though, she wasn't exactly wrong. He _had_ been cutting his nails more and more often lately. It was strange no matter how he looked at it. Things had been strange for a long time these days.

"Whatever, you weirdo. When you're done get dressed and come outside. It started snowing this morning and me and rubes are gonna make an awesome snowman."

Yin blinked and looked up and out one of the windows. Snowflakes lazily drifted past, some clinging to webs of frost on the window. Patch, his home, was about as temperate as climates come. It was hot in the summer, and cold in the winter. A much more bearable system than that of, say, Atlas- which was cold at all times, or Vacuo- which was hot at all times.

**Snap**

"A snowman…? Really? I dont think theres enough snow right now to do that."

"Don't be such a downer!" Yang sighed, pushing him, something that didn't even disturb him anymore. "It'll work, trust me."

The last time he trusted her he ended up covered from head to toe in baking powder and a half-baked cookie in each hand. Trust was a little hard to come by these days.

Besides, he was hoping to make some more progress on that book up in his room. The idea of parading about in the cold for the next hours was not at all enticing, "I dont know…"

Yang sent him that look. That look that was basically the bane of his existence. A cruel mixture of disappointment, sadness, and resignement. "Come on… Please? We hardly ever get to do anything fun together."

A bold-faced lie. A stronger man would have called her out on it. That man was not him.

"...Alright, alright. I'll be out in a minute. Tell dad not to take my scarf this time."

The sadness evaporated in an instant, and Yin was suddenly crushed into an overwhelming side hug.

"Gah!"

"Thanks Yin! Don't make me wait!"

And with that, she was gone. Yin rubbed his shoulder exasperatedly, already feeling himself become sore. Yang, his sister in duality, was about as brutishly strong as her tomboy personality suggested. She had no trouble being overly physical with him because she knew that he could take it. He may appear lithe and fragile, but years of keeping up with her had made him more durable than such a young kid really should be.

*Sigh…* **Snap**

* * *

With turtleneck, beige jacket, wintery jeans, and pink scarf adorned; Yin was ready to push through the back door of their home and out into the light snow drifting down. It crunched under his boots, and drifted into his blonde hair. Snow was a fine weather- so long as it wasn't so heavy that it made leaving the house a chore.

Out there in the thick of the lightly laid snow, Yin saw Yang and Ruby roughing about with a few collected mounds of snow. Yang giving the younger girl a rundown on how exactly to construct their snow leviathan.

Yin pressed his boot into the snow before pulling back and examining the line of frozen water forming a ring about his shoe. Hardly half an inch…

"Come on~! Why isnt it working?" Yang cried out as she gave a push to the ball of snow she had been rolling. Though, to call it snow was a little bit generous. It was more mud, snow, and clumps of grass.

"Told you so. There's not enough snow to make a snowman, Yang. Unless you're looking to make a mudman." He said smoothly, the frigid air carrying his words on breaths of visible moisture, "For that, you're on your own."

"Shut it, Yin! It'll work!" Yang barked at him, "Ruby! Gimme a hand so we can prove this loser wrong!"

"Okay!"

Immediately the two got to work rolling up another ball of snow. Yin merely watched at a distance, his arms crossed as he observed their struggle. When they finished, another unpleasant mud ball sat in Yang's annoyed hands. If Yin knew any better, and he did, then this ball was worse than the last.

"S-shut up!" Yang barked at him again, looking embarrassed. Ruby was still grinning, regardless of the state of the snowballs.

"I didn't even say anything yet."

"You were gonna!"

Yin chuckled, a rare smile appearing on his face. "Yeah. I was."

Yang growled, his smugness getting to her again. "That's it…" She gripped the mudball tighter before whipping her hand back and throwing it with as much strength as her small body could muster. "Eat that!"

Yin didn't even move. He simply shifted his torso ever so slightly, his head cocking just a bit. With that faint movement, the ball whizzed past him easily- crashing somewhere behind him without even getting a speck of dirt on him.

That just made Yang angrier. Quickly she bent low and scraped together another ball of snow and mud in record time. When she threw it this time, Yin bent backwards like he were playing a game of limbo, and let it pass by harmlessly.

That was the last straw. With a furious yell, Yang reached over and grabbed the first snowball she had attempted to make. This one noticeably larger than the rest. Hefting it up, she stood and raised it high above her head and stomped toward him with a wicked grin on her face.

"Better start running, Yin!"

Yin rolled his eyes and remained where he stood, unimpressed. Yang's eye glinted, taking that as a direct challenge and speeding up her pace. No matter how cool headed Yin acted, she knew he hated to get dirty. She was going to get back at him for his smugness.

Which was why she was overwhelmed with shock when the world suddenly gave way. She felt it more than saw it when her legs suddenly gave out beneath her. Her vision shifted as she suddenly pitched forward and landed face first in the snow with a muted sound. The pound of snow in her hands crashed to the ground as well, dispersing into a useless mound.

"Oops~" Yin sarcastically said, his eyes glinting with mischief. "I guess I forgot I dug that pitfall there yesterday. And it looks like the snow completely hid it too. Who could have seen that coming?"

Yang pushed herself up on her elbows, glaring at him with a look of betrayal for falling for yet _another_ one of his traps. "You-"

Yin swung his hand forward, sending the perfect snowball he had behind his back straight into her face. The snow exploded, completely covering her face and hair with the cold powder. Her muffled shout of shock made him smirk.

" _That_ was for waking me up early."

Despite how he carried himself, Yin was more than capable of being vindictive and crafty. If Yang pranked him, she could definitely expect to be pranked back at a later date. He did not forget, and to this day she had not avoided a single one of his pranks.

Though, he was always careful not to actually hurt her. Or to mess up her hair. That was one mistake he would never make again.

He would have basked in his victory for longer, but his smug satisfaction was immediately broken when he felt something crash into the side of his head. Cold ice exploded against his head, covering him with the stuff and even getting into the neck of his shirt a bit. The attack was so sudden that he could do little more than blink in shock.

Slowly, he turned his head in the direction of the assault and his eyes landed on Ruby. She had thrown a snowball at him right when she knew he was distracted. It was a smart move.

The little girl's smile slowly faded when she saw the annoyance in his eyes. It took her off guard, and momentarily she was overcome with the desire to apologize. Or… run away.

That feeling immediately faded when Yin was tackled to the ground.

"Thanks for the help Rubes!" Yang chuckled, shoving a struggling Yin further into the snow to restrain him, her superior strength making short work of his resistance. "Time for a little payback!"

"Wait wait!" His yelps fell on deaf ears he was bombarded with snowball after snowball.

* * *

"...Yang is gonna kill that boy one of these days."

Summer chuckled as she watched the two eldest children roughhousing, the younger sister obviously winning- especially with the assistance of the red and black blur that was Ruby. "I think Yin is partly to blame. He knows exactly how to rile her up."

"Being vaguely annoying is just part of the Xiao Long charm." Tai chuckled, his eyes locked on them as well, "Though I do wish he had my sense of humor too… Little guy cant pun to save his life."

"Most people would consider that a good thing."

"Yeah well most people are boring."

Summer didn't laugh at that like she usually would. In fact, as Taiyang watched her, she seemed especially down at the moment. Summer got anxious at times, she got nervous and apprehensive, but rarely did she ever get sad.

That wouldn't stand. "Did something happen during your mission? You seem down..."

"...I can't hide anything from you can I?" Summer smiled and stared at him, "Nothing bad happened, I've just been… thinking, I guess."

"About?"

"Yin. Don't you think he's been acting… strange, lately?" She looked to him, making her feelings clear.

"Strange…?" Tai thought on that for a moment. "Not any stranger than usual, I think."

His first born had always been a bit of a strange kid, at least by his understanding of how children should be. Quiet- but not reserved. More mature than his sisters, more thoughtful at times and verbose. Yes, mature was a good way to describe it. Kind of like a mini-Ozpin. Huh… that was a very unsettling comparison.

An oddity for someone so young. Especially when he took into account Yin's tendency to lose himself in thought or to follow those strange evening and morning rituals of his. But some kids were just like that- so he never let it detract from his love for the kid.

Well… there was also his weak relationship with Ruby. But he couldn't even guess what was happening there. The two just never seemed to click… It really made him sad to see those two so far apart.

"Yes, Yin's always been a bit of an oddball, but I think its getting worse these days." Summer muttered uneasily, "He's been alone more and more often and he pretty much never asks for anything from either of us."

"Plus… I can't even remember the last time he called me 'mom'..."

That… was serious. And it had awful connotation that he wasn't sure he was ready to face just yet.

Summer was of like mind. "Do you… think he knows?"

That was the question wasn't it? "No...No I don't think so. Yin is smarter than he looks, and he doesn't miss things, but I don't think he figured it out. We've been careful about this. At worst, hes suspicious."

Tai paused and sighed as he scratched at his hair, a few thoughts coming to rest on the tip of his tongue. This idea had been brewing in his mind a good bit lately, but he had been hesitating to actually speak to his wife about it.

"Tai… What is it?"

"Well it's just…" Tai grunted and resigned himself, "I think Yin is getting a bit antsy. I'm usually always around for him, but you've been off on missions more and more lately. You're hardly home anymore."

"The stories you tell are enough for Yang and Ruby, so they're okay. But… Yin was never that interested in your stories. That whole 'hero' thing never stuck with him like it did Ruby."

Summer gasped as what he said hit home, making her look back on the past few weeks with guilt. "You think he's feeling neglected?"

"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I think all this is making him a bit more… self-sufficient. He's growing up way too fast."

Silence fell. The two turned to watch solemnly as Yang challenged Yin and Ruby to a handstand contest, promptly lost fantastically, and then proceeded to chase him. Despite the tension, Summer still found the will to giggle at the sight. Silly girl… She was going to have to take her aside and teach her how to get one up on her brother. She was physically stronger than he was, if she started using that noggin of hers she could avoid all those pranks of his and teach him a lesson or two.

"I'll need a little more time, but I promise I'm going to quit the huntress business soon, Tai. You're right. I really do need to settle down and be a mother for them."

Tai smiled and patted her shoulder caringly, "I know you'll do what's right, Hon. I'll be right there for you, no matter what you do. The kids feel the same way- no matter how they act."

* * *

"Hey! Where are you going?" Yang called out to him, busily getting to work on fashioning another snowman now that she had found a rather thick patch of snow.

Yin waved back but still hurried on, "Bathroom- I'll be back in a bit."

"Kay!"

Yin continued to walk away, the snow crunching and leaving imprints beneath his boots. He kept his eyes locked forward but his ears open, always alert. His path led him toward the back of their home, where very few windows looked outward and trees shielded him for the most part. It was a quiet place, filled with flowers during spring, and shade during summer. Right now, it was rife with snow and frozen ponds of water just waiting to be broken open.

He kept close to the walls of the house, tracing along it until he was situated well out of sight of his family. He paused for a moment, his breath visibly pushing past his teeth. Then he collapsed.

The young man barely caught himself on the wall, his head pressed into his forearm as he heaved for breath like a cancer patient. His right hand came up to viciously clutch at his chest, warping his clothing as veins peaked out along his neck and hand. His eyes dilated, staring into nothingness as his face contorted with unimaginable pain.

"Damn… it…" He wheezed, finding every word was a monumental effort to speak. "Not… Again…"

The pain was in a class of its own. It felt like something had just punched a hole straight through his chest- an awful, sharp pain that continued to wrack his body and refuse to dull or abate. It spread from his chest all the way to his extremities like the hot rolling of magma, filling his world with nothing but suffering. Though even that felt like it didn't do justice in describing it. The agony came from nowhere; one moment he was fine, the next he barely managed to bite back a scream that threatened to leave him.

It came just when he agreed to help Yang with her snowman, nearly sending him toppling over into his sister as his consciousness faded in a moment of weakness. He had managed to keep a cool face, but there was no way he could grin and bear it in front of his sister and parent's searching eyes. It was a miracle that he held himself together long enough to stagger all the way around to the back of the house.

"What is… happening…?"

This wasn't the first episode he'd been put through. Lately, these flashes of terrible pain had been occuring more and more often in varying levels of intensity. Not weekly or anything insane like that- but enough that he began to notice, and worry. It couldn't be natural- there was no way such pain could be.

Yet… He still hasn't told his family about it. Surely, if something was wrong with him then he should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. If his parents knew that he was in such pain then it would be a moot point- they were so overprotective of him that it was almost worrying. But not a one of them knew of his continued bouts of seizing pain. He would cover it up with lies of using the bathroom, or turning in early, or going for a walk- anything to get a couple moments alone.

He didn't know why he hid it. Maybe it was to not worry them, or maybe he was just afraid of what the doctors would find. Mostly, he just didn't want to see the look of terror and worry on his sister's face when whatever was wrong with him came out. It would pass on its own. It had to.

Yin bent lower, and loosed a set of awful coughs that rattled his ribcage. When he peeled his eyes open, he only felt his heart drop when he saw blots of blood staining the snow at his feet. Spilling his own vitality so easily sent his head spinning, his fingers only tightening harder. Was he…?

"Yin?"

Immediately the young man's eyes blew wide open, and his foot flashed out to throw fresh snow over his spilled blood. There was no possible way he could push himself away from the wall or make it look like he wasn't in pain, but he could not let the blood be seen. Yin shakily looked over and watched as Ruby Rose stepped out past the corner of the house, her eyes locking on him immediately.

He scowled slightly, though it was weak- what with him leaning onto the building for support, and his fingers pressed against his chest. "W-..." He swallowed thickly, grimacing at the wash of metal over his taste buds, "What do you want."

"Are you okay…?" She said softly, taking a small step toward him. Her eyes glittered with worry. Even as young as she was, she could tell that something was wrong with him. She could tell that he was in pain. Despite how overzealous and excitable his sisters were, he knew they were just as observant as he was at times. It took extra work on his part to keep them in the dark, especially with how often they wanted to spend their time with him.

Internally, he growled. This was just what he needed- his little sister and her damn hero complex. All that talk of doing good and going out of the way to help people never ceased to grate on his nerves. It was only made all the worse now because if she continued to press him then she would uncover the secret he was desperately trying to keep in.

"I'm fine." He was proud that he managed to make that sound normal. "Just… peachy. Is there something you wanted?"

Ruby frowned, that stern side of her mother showing as she found a kernel of annoyance at his brush-off. "Yang wanted to know what was taking you so long. She wanted to borrow your scarf for the snowman…"

Grudgingly, he unfurled his scarf and handed it to the girl. He was hesitant to do so, but he would do just about anything to get her away from him right now.

Ruby gingerly took it, but she was still staring at him. "Are you sure you're alright? You don't look so good…"

He recalled a couple poems in his head to calm himself down. Snapping at her wouldn't solve anything and would likely just make the situation worse. "Yes. It's just a little… Stomach ache…"

"Oh! Do you want me to get dad? He can-"

"No!" Yin turned on her with a glare, though quickly fizzled it out when he saw the kicked expression she had. Damn it all… She really was just trying to help him. "I mean… No. I'm fine. It will… It will pass. Tell Yang I'll be out in a minute."

The girl looked at him for a moment longer before vanishing with that speed of hers, leaving him alone once more.

Yin sighed and collapsed to his knees, feeling the still prominent pain in chest. His fingers pressed harder, and he found himself just focusing on breathing. It was so… annoying. He was having fun with his sister, truly enjoying his day, only for it to be ruined by… whatever this was. It just wasn't fair. It was so… stressful.

At least he finally knew what he could describe the pain as. It felt like there was a hole in his chest. As if he were missing something. Something important.

He felt empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Heres the next chapter, just so you know what exactly im even doing here. Family interactions are HARD, especially when you're trying to mitigate how cringey it can be. I'd much rather just write action, but for the sake of the points I'm trying to push here, its necessary.
> 
> Is it obvious that the only knowledge I have of RWBY comes from fanfiction?


	3. Chapter 3

Yin sighed and fell backwards, his back softly landing into his carpet and leaving him with a sense of contented comfort. His vibrant blue eyes stared upward, focusing on the ceiling fan as his mind wandered. Like most late nights around this time he was dressed in his sleeping wear, his nightly ritual all accomplished and his weary body more than ready for rest.

It had been a long day. A fun day, of course, but long nonetheless. Most would think there was a finite amount of fun to be had in the snow, but his sister was relentless in inventing games to keep them entertained and fooling around in that frigid air.

There were a few hiccups here and there, mostly having to do with the flare of pain in his chest, but he would still be bold enough to consider it one for the memory banks. The only reason it hadn't gone on longer was because of the encroaching blizzard that would overtake the forests soon. As he thought back on the day, he could only give a sigh of relief and close his eyes for the moment. Ruby had seen him in his moment of weakness, but thankfully- whether it be through scatterbrained forgetfulness or luck, she had not told his parents.

Fate was still on his side it seemed; though he would still have to be careful. If he got caught again then he may as well give up then and there. Perhaps he could venture off to the doctor while his parents were occupied?

He shook his head, groaned, and sat up irritably. Fat chance of that. Everyone in the nearby town knew his father well- the doctor included. They were fond of him and his sisters as well. If one person knew he was sick or… whatever he was… then everyone would know. His eyes roamed over to the small bookshelf in the corner of his room. Maybe one of them would have information on what was wrong with him?

Or, he could use the internet like Yang taught him to do. But he didn't fancy his odds with that. For some reason, the computer never really clicked with him. He couldn't make heads or tails of it at the best of times, and 'surfing the web' may as well have been impossible for him. Tech savvy, he was not.

These thoughts left a bland taste in his mouth. The illness would pass, there was no way this would keep him down for long. He was simply being paranoid.

Yin clicked the light to his room off and unceremoniously collapsed into his bed, his tired body working to tug himself under the covers. While he did, he thought on something different. Something less pressing, but still important.

Ruby.

After that close call, Ruby had been for the most part avoiding him today. She still eagerly joined their play, but her eyes could no longer meet his for long. Their relationship had always been tenuous at best, but it seemed his snapping at her was the final straw; she wasn't comfortable around him any longer.

That should have concerned him, or at least worried him, but Yin couldn't find it in himself to care as he crossed his hands behind his head- the pillow easily depressing beneath him. He didn't have such a high opinion of her either, so it stood to reason that the feeling might as well be mutual.

"..."

...That wasn't entirely fair. Yin was many things, but he strived to not be unreasonable or biased. He was not a fool- and his father had pointed it out many times- his veiled distaste for his sister was baseless. There was no reason for him to hate her so much.

She had never done anything to him, had never spoken ill of him, and had been nothing but kind hearted for the years they've known each other. If there was an image of a lovable younger sister in the dictionary, that picture would be Ruby. Even her infatuation with heroic actions thanks to their mother wasn't near enough grounds to dislike her; she was so naive that it was impossible to hate her for that. Like a baby deer.

Yin disliked the focus his mother and sister had on heroics. It felt shallow, and counter-productive to him. He would always listen dutifully when his mother came back home to tell those stories of hers, but internally he would scoff and roll his eyes. It all sounded too good to be true, fake. Stories of knights or selfless paragons were little more than childish fairy tales to him- ironic, considering his age.

Besides, those 'heroic deeds' of hers kept her from home most of time- an annoying time sink that kept him from ever truly understanding her. Ruby on the other hand ate them up, and would beg for more stories, but that was just how she was. No reason to hold that against her.

In actuality, his animosity was completely unfounded. So why… why was it that whenever he looked at her he couldn't help but seethe internally?

Something about her face? Was it her name? Her eyes? Did her naivety grate on him? Or was her overly heroic disposition just too great a sticking point for him?

"Damn it… I dont get it." He grunted, rolling onto his side with annoyance burning in him. He didn't want to hate her, not at all. He couldn't imagine the family without her, and she made Yang so happy. So his unfounded hate made him just as uncomfortable as it did his parents.

At least Yang was oblivious to all this animosity brewing beneath the surface. Yin was always careful to keep his troubles invisible to her. He could only imagine what his twin would do to get them on better terms- her brash personality brokering no doubt that she would take a forward approach to his troubles. Most likely she would lock them in a closet for an entire day.

...Whatever. This was a line of thought for another time. The way he saw it, things were this way for a reason. He was happy now. A little confused at times, a little scared yes, but happy. There was no reason to mix up the status-quo and endanger that happiness now.

Darkness crept into his room, his weary eyes pulling shut finally as he let sleep overtake him.

* * *

His dreams were… nonsensical at best. He had never had a nightmare, he had never woken up feeling weary or unrested. But there was always a keen _strangeness_ to the imaginations that floated through his mind as he slept soundly

Images that he simply couldn't make out or decipher into familiar shapes. People of all strange guises and shapes that talked incomprehensible rubbish that sounded more like underwater gargling. Flashes of color, pounding of drums, and his own voice. Why he was seeing these things was beyond him, but he never questioned it. He simply let himself get washed away in a sea of arbitrary feelings.

There was only one constant. A familiar feeling that hovered just behind him. A comforting presence, like the heat of a hearth on your back on a cold night. No matter how his dreamscape fluctuated or warped, that feeling remained steadfast. Just beyond his periphery where he could never gaze upon it, but always present.

It filled him with a strength that he never experienced in the waking world. He felt… whole. Invisible arms wrapped around his midsection, lulling him deeper into his slumber as the comfort he felt only increased.

Long yonder, in the distance where his dream world met a focal point- the sky fractured, and his realm shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

Yin blinked rapidly, his tired eyes glancing about weakly as he felt the grogginess that wracked him. For the moment, he couldn't see, and he worried that he was still asleep- but the faintest sound at the far edge of his room disproved that.

His senses came back to him slowly but surely. He was still overcome with sleepiness, but his eyes slowly began to adjust to the supreme darkness of his room. Outside, the blizzard still roared on, and inside he felt the faint warmth of his room upon his exposed skin- pushing gently at the stray locks of blonde hair on his cheek.

Confusion was his chief feeling. He _never_ woke up in the middle of the night like this, so his dumb glancing about was to be expected. He smacked his lips weakly, looking around for a moment longer before shrugging and collapsing back into his pillow with a huff.

Then he heard it again. A very light rapping upon his door. Soft enough that it could be disregarded as the wind, but also loud enough that it would catch his attention. With how quiet he kept his room, it was impossible to not hear it.

Yin blinked and slowly slid his blanket aside as got up from his bed. A visitor? This late at night? He couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour… Who would still be up so early? Carefully he padded over, his eyes never straying from the door as he neared.

He waited for a moment, his tired eyes watching the door with weak interest. After another second the quiet rapping came again, and Yin took the doorknob and opened up his entryway.

Surprise washed over him when the small form of his twin appeared. The girl was dressed in her own set of sleepwear, almost identical to his own. Her stance was a little antsy, her eyes darting from his face to the ground and back again- in the back of his head he noted that she didn't look as sleepy as someone should be at this time of night.

"Yang…? Wha- Why are you knocking on my door so late?" He yawned, nearly smothering his own question. A very valid question. Yang should have been out like a light a long time ago- and she was such a heavy sleeper that he doubted even a tornado on the horizon could rouse her.

"I… Well, um…" she stuttered, obviously unsure what she wanted to say. The two were comfortable with each other as siblings often were, so this moment of hesitation was more than enough to perk Yin up. "Look. Can you just let me in?"

"...Alright." He whispered, careful not to wake his parents and moved aside to allow her to quickly step into his room. He shut the door behind her, and turned back. Yang was looking about his room, taking in its stark appearance carefully. She giggled a bit when her eyes landed on the goofy picture she had carved into the drawers of his dresser long ago.

"Yang." Yin began, tapping her shoulder and making it clear he still wanted answers. "Why aren't you in bed?"

She looked up at him slightly before looking away and shuffling a foot. That was a big red flag; Yang didn't act embarrassed or hesitate about anything. He disregarded his knee-jerk instinct to tease her, a more concerned expression crossing his face.

Yang huffed at his look, "I just wanted to sleep together 's all, like we used to do! All that wind sounds like… uh, Beowolves! Mom always said we should stick together if there are Grimm around!"

Beowolves. Sure. And he secretly wore mismatched socks. "If you're scared why don't you go sleep with dad?"

"I'm not scared!" She whisper-shouted, shaking him by his shoulders.

"Right. Of course."

Yang scowled, "I didn't want to sleep with Dad because Ruby is already there. With all four of us, it would be so cramped… There's no way I could sleep!"

A likely reason, but to Yin it answered a question he hadn't asked. Ruby wasn't in the shared bedroom with Yang- likely because the younger sibling was afraid of the storm and had sought comfort from her parents.

The pieces began to fall into place slowly but surely. It wasn't that Yang was afraid of the storm, it was more that she was anxious. Ruby wasn't in the room with her anymore, and after years of sharing a room with somebody that must have put her on edge. Brash, tomboy Yang, wasn't comfortable with sleeping alone.

"Besides, Dad snores a lot."

"You know you do too, right?" Taiyang was a loud snorer, but Yang was a close second. Back when they shared a room Yin had found himself plugging his ears with cotton just to get some sleep on certain nights.

"I do?"

Ugh. Yin slapped his face and thought for a moment. Part of him wanted to turn her away. It had taken a lot of pleading to get a room to himself and he enjoyed the liberties associated with it. Plus, no part of him missed her tendency to snore the night away. At some point, Yang would have to learn how to sleep alone; why not start now?

But when he looked at her naked expression, clearly open and free of the usual rowdiness and mischief, he found himself caving. She was basically begging him- he couldn't imagine how crushed she would be if he denied her now. It must have been difficult enough to swallow her pride and come ask him in the first place. He wouldn't spit in the face of that.

"...Fine. Just don't make a habit of this, alright?"

Yang's smile lit up the room for a moment, and the only reason Yin didn't cry out in pain from the sudden hug was because he saw it coming. Yang held him for a moment longer than she usually did before releasing him and all but rushing for his bed. The groan of his bed springs as she cannonballed into his comforter was loud, and Yin let another withering sigh loose as he walked back around and got under the tussled covers.

His bed was big enough for two kids of their size, but still they were a bit close and Yang had no qualms with snuggling up to him with a content sigh. The feeling was a bit strange, but it was also familiar. They had done this many times in the past, and though he had grown accustomed to sleeping in solidarity he couldn't deny that some part of himself enjoyed this.

"Yin?"

Yin hummed, his eyes shut but sleep still a distant concept as he tried to adjust to the new arrangement. He made it clear that he heard her.

"You know dad's getting me my first weapon tomorrow… right?"

How could he not know? It was pretty much all Yang and Ruby had been talking about for the past week. Per her request, Taiyang and Summer would be taking her into town to get her fitted with a weapon of her own- something she could use when their father started teaching her the ropes of combat. For the better half of the month, Yang had been using him as a tool to bounce ideas for weapons off of- his own insightful comments helping to point her toward her final decision.

Taiyang had also offered to get him his own weapon, due to his age it was only natural that he get one too. But he had declined. Or, at least, he postponed the question. Simply stating that he didn't know yet and would think on it. But Yang had been ecstatic at the opportunity, and jumped on it as soon as possible.

He nodded, accidentally brushing the top of her head lightly. Where was she going with this?

Yang spoke in a whisper, her voice only loud enough for him to hear it with their close proximity, "I've been so excited for it for a long time. You know that i've always wanted to be strong like dad." She rambled. "But… Don't tell Ruby, but I've been feeling a little… worried, about it."

"Worried? What do you mean?"

"Owning my own weapons is just… A little scary. The more and more I think about it… The more worried I get."

She pinched his side, and he jumped slightly. "Don't laugh."

"Geez... I'm not gonna laugh Yang." Certainly not when she sounded this vulnerable. "Why are you scared?"

"Not scared! Just… worried." She pouted at him before pulling closer with a shiver, "You and Ruby… Dad wants me to protect you two. I'm the strongest, and with a weapon I'll be able to do that. But… What if I can't?" She was speaking so softly that he could barely hear her now.

So it was a matter of responsibility. She had never considered the gravity that having a weapon would entail- the promise of responsibility. It was no secret that she was the strongest of the three children, and protecting them was one of her chief concerns. The fact that she had realized that task may be beyond her was very indicative of how much she had matured these past years. "You don't think you can do it?"

"I don't know…"

He wasn't sure how to pick her mood up. How long had this been eating away at her? Despite her own strength, it was obvious that Yang looked up to him in some small way. His unruffable personality and directed lifestyle were admirable traits; the ease with which he spoke his mind and carried himself only solidified her admiration for him. Because of that, right now, he was the only one she was comfortable with being honest to.

He ignored his inclinate desire to simply brush the matter off. While the feelings may only be temporary, and would most likely vanish come morning, that didn't change what was happening now. He absolutely had to find the words to fix this. Comforting people wasn't something he had any experience in doing, but he had to try.

"Listen. Yang. Don't go worrying about that right now… okay? I know that getting a weapon can be a little… daunting. But it's not some big responsibility you have to shoulder right now. Dad and Mom will teach you how to fight and you'll learn."

"But-!"

"Yang." He cut off. "I know it can be uncomfortable. I know you're having your doubts. But you're not alone. Don't ever think you have to shoulder this burden alone. I'm going to support you the entire way."

"Yin…"

She was listening… Good. That meant he hadn't screwed up just yet. Every word he said was made up on the spot, but that didn't mean he didn't mean it. It was embarrassing to speak so openly, and he would gag at the sappy trash coming out of his mouth later, but he was too deep in to stop now.

He chuckled mirthlessly, "I… may not have been the best older brother. It's supposed to be me that keeps you safe, not the other way around. But that doesn't mean that I wont do my part."

"If you're ever feeling weak, if you're ever lonely or worried… I will always be right here. And if you ever think you cant do it, or that you're not strong enough… I'll be right here too. Either to guide you, or knock some sense into you."

"We're still just kids, Yang. Until you feel like you can handle the Grimm king himself- lean on me." As he said this he yawned again, completely unused to speaking so much.

Silence reigned for a long moment. Yang obviously thought on his words, truly digesting them as he spoke straight from the heart. For a worrying moment, he wondered if he said the wrong thing. Relief flooded him when Yang relaxed, pulling herself closer to him.

"Thanks… I think I needed to hear that from you." Maybe it was just reaffirming what she already knew deep down, but his word of mouth did wonders. Yin very rarely ever vocalized his care for his sister, so when he did the effect was only made all the stronger. She buried her head into his neck, tickling him with her hair. For the first time that night, all the tension left her body, and she could not bite back the truly exhausted yawn she gave. "Goodnight Yin."

Within moments, she was out. Obviously thinking on these matters had taken it out of her. Yin sighed, his twin's snores beginning to fill his room. He didn't become annoyed though, he simply held her closer and shut his eyes. "...Goodnight."

The meaning behind their names was not lost on him. Their differing personalities giving even more weight to that image of duality the olden symbol represented. Yin and Yang. Two things that differ so greatly that they may as well be black and white.

But they still lived in tandem. Yin didn't know why… but he felt that, if it weren't for his sister, he would be a very different person. A person that he wouldn't be nearly as proud to be. For all their squabbling and his own grievances, Yang truly did bring out the better part of him- and kept him from becoming something that he wasn't sure he wanted to ever face. He hoped that he had that same effect on her.

It was a cold night, and with their shared body heat he quickly found himself being pulled back into slumber. This wasn't bad at all…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Another chapter out. Something I have to always keep in mind when writing these types of stories is to constantly build up and show the commerce of relations. A little difficult when RWBY characters have such varying personalities, but I hope I managed to at least keep them within their bounds for this very very short chapter.
> 
> To those who have noticed, yes, the title of this story is a queen reference- probably my favorite queen song as well.
> 
> I realize Kira is a little out of character here, and yes that is by design. Though it most certainly is him, I have to reflect that a different upbringing would change him just a little bit.


	4. Chapter 4

The house was alive with movement this morning, his family bustling about in a frenzy as Summer, who had accidentally slept in, hurried to collect her things and fix her disheveled appearance. Taiyang attempted to help her out while also helping Yang get into the big winter coat of hers. The family was hectic at best, but with a time limit their mayhem only got worse.

Yin sat at the dining table, pointedly removing himself from the rush and not involving himself. Ruby sat a little ways away from him, spooning through a bowl of cereal as she watched her mother finally collect the last of her things. The two siblings had tried to help out- about an hour ago. At some point they simply gave up and went to fix themselves breakfast.

"Damn… I was sure I had my keys." Without even looking, Yin picked up the ring of keys from the table and tossed it in the general direction of his father. The man reacted instantly, his arm lashing out as he snatched the ring from the air with cat-like grace. "Thanks sport!" He simply nodded and went back to chewing on his toast.

Today was the day Yang was getting her weapon. This plan had been in the works for weeks now, and the big day had come hard and fast. After their little talk, Yin was pleased to see giddy resolve in his sister- a far cry from the doubt she revealed to him. He was glad he had gotten through to her. It would be rather embarrassing for her to get cold feet after all this time.

Within minutes, the three were finished with their preparation. They stood in the entryway of their little home, Yang between the two parents as they looked back at him and Ruby.

"Okay… If we waste anymore time we'll be here all day. We'll be leaving now, you two." Summer said. The matriarch gave them that reassuring smile, the one that still managed to put him at ease at any moment.

Ruby pouted, shuffling her feet. "Are you sure I can't come with you?"

Taiyang chuckled and rubber her head, "Sorry squirt, but this is something Yang's got to figure out on her own. We'll be back soon… Okay?"

"I'll show you guys my awesome weapon when I get back!" Yang cheered, shivering with excitement. "You're gonna be so jealous!"

Ruby brightened up, and nodded hard. "Okay!" Leave it to her to be mollified at the simple prospect of seeing her sisters weapon. Though, he couldn't lie- he was looking forward to seeing what Yang decided on too.

"Yin. You're in charge while we're gone." His father looked to him, "No parties. Don't let any strangers in. And… keep Ruby safe. Alright?"

Taiyang's words were joking, but the way he was looking at him reflected none of that humor. He meant every word he said. He was wholeheartedly counting on him to hold the fort. As the eldest, that was basically his duty at all times in their absence. But there was also more to that look. A small glance to Ruby, one that he almost missed.

He frowned.

Yes, Yang's weapon was something that she should decide on her own, but Yin wasn't stupid enough to think that was the only reason for their departure without him or Ruby. Taiyang must have seen this as an opportunity to get him and his youngest sister on better terms; some time alone without the rest of the family may be just what they needed to settle their differences.

Nobody liked the rift he had between him and her, and this desperate attempt was the only thing Tai could think of.

"Yes. I will." It was wishful thinking on his fathers part. But he took his words to heart. He may not like Ruby, but he would keep her safe and keep an eye on her. Not that it really mattered; there were few places safer than Patch. It was a non-promise at best.

Besides, if even a hair on his youngest daughters head was hurt then he could expect fiery retribution from his father. The underlying threat was clear: Keep Ruby safe or else.

Tai stared at him for a moment longer before grinning and roughing his hair up, something that still managed to annoy him. "Good. There's some food in the fridge if you get hungry. We'll be back soon."

Yang gave him and Ruby one last cheeky grin before they left, the wooden door swinging closed behind them. Ruby raced over to the window with Yin slowly trailing behind. Together they watched the three pack into the car and slowly disappear past the copse of trees; the only remaining sign of them being the tire tracks left in the thick snow coating the trail.

Compared to yesterday, the environment was far starker. Snow coated everything within sight, turning the landscape into a white canvas. From the bare trees to the buried foliage, nothing was safe. The only real splash of color out there was the snowman still wearing his scarf; the sizable sculpture standing out proudly.

...

With that, it was only the two of them left. An uncomfortable atmosphere settled as Ruby seemed to realize that too. She sent him a few furtive glances, but he still watched the window- his mind busy deciding how he would spend this day of relative solitude.

"So…" Ruby began, glancing between him and the tracks outside, "Can we play outside?"

Yin thought on that but eventually just shook his head. "Better not. The snows a lot thicker than it was yesterday. Can't be sure what's under there." But he could guess. Most likely there was a layer of ice set outside, just waiting for one of them to slip and bust their heads open. No thanks.

"Oh… Alright." Ruby sighed.

Ugh… Was he seriously stuck babysitting? He may have the responsibility of keeping her safe, but his father was dead wrong if he thought he was gonna watch over the girl at all times. "Why don't you grab some of Yang's toys? She's not around to stop you."

Ruby liked the sound of that. A coy smile pulled at her cheek as her mood visibly picked up, "Good idea! Yang has this really cool action figure set that she likes to hide under her bed!"

With that, she vanished up the stairs. Yin was momentarily glad that she never went into his room. He didn't keep anything incriminating of course, but he wasn't exactly comfortable with his youngest sibling rifling through his things.

As the girl went about to distract herself, Yin moved over into the living room. This part of the house was one of the larger and more interesting sights in his home. A long couch stretched out in front of a coffee table and carpet, with a recliner pushed off to the side for his father. The chairs faced a stone fireplace built into the wall, and two bookshelves flanked the hearth on either side- the shelves stretching up above the fireplace filled with books as well.

Yin shivered, his hands brushing his arms through his sleepwear. Now that he thought about it… it was rather cold in here. The winter weather had a habit of seeping into the house, and it left the room feeling just a little colder than he would like it.

The young Xiao Long stepped over to the fireplace and crouched down, his blue eyes scanning over the logs of wood. Apart from the ashes of a couple prior fires and the twisted steel fire pokers lodged into the wood, the only real thing of note were the dully glistening crimson crystals scattered about the bottom of the hearth. They shone with a certain kind of heat; like dull amber that had been cooking in the sun.

Good. His father remembered to refuel it.

Reaching toward the switch under the fireplace, Yin gave it a few flicks. The starter at the bottom flickered a few times, flinging sparks across the pit and making the stones clatter- but eventually one of the crystals gave way with a pleasing 'woosh'. Fire immediately blossomed up from the pit, the trite flames fanning out for a moment before beginning to cling to the logs of wood.

Yin smiled as he watched the wood begin to blacken. Fire dust. Much easier than taking up the flint and steel, much safer too. Summer wouldn't be happy if he managed to burn himself the moment she was gone.

He stared into the flame a moment longer before reaching out to the side. His small fingers reached into the nearby bookshelf and tugged out a familiar cover: The man with two souls. It was… a bit above his grade level, but he still enjoyed sifting through the pages from time to time and trying to decipher the passages. He couldn't make heads or tails of the story just yet though.

Yang took any chance she could to tease him on his interest with reading. 'Nerd' being her chief barb. Sure, there were other things to do, but he actually enjoyed reading. There was something… peaceful about it. He could feel the stress leaving his body whenever he got a chance to just relax and read, without being interrupted by his family.

And if Yang ever got in his face about it, he was more than ready to tease her back about the times she made him read bedtime stories to her.

Yin walked back to the couch and plopped down, the book breaking open to a random page as he simply lost himself. The warmth of the fire kept him content, and the words enraptured his mind.

"Yin!"

He started, the book jumping in his hand as he sat upright. For a moment he glanced around in pure confusion, but then he scowled and turned around in his seat. Ruby was across the room, just outside the kitchen, staring at him innocently.

"...Is it okay if I make myself a glass of milk?" She continued, obviously not noticing that she had interrupted him. Stupid, oblivious sister…

It was a conscious effort not to snap at her. "Fine. Just don't ruin all the cookies, alright? I'll be the one in trouble this time."

"Okay!" She vanished with her speed. Yin watched the girl as she maneuvered through the kitchen. She was old enough that he knew she wouldn't go breaking anything or making a mess, but he just had to be sure.

Satisfied, Yin returned to his book, attempting to decipher just what that 'R' word meant.

"Do you want some too, Yin?"

The shout from the kitchen startled him again. Again, he was interrupted, just when he was about to immerse himself. Unconsciously, his fingers tightened on the book and his eye twitched.

"No. I'm fine. Just get your food and quit bothering me."

"...Okay." Yin didn't care to feel bad for that one. He glared down at his book before huffing and slamming it closed. He took his left hand and wearily rubbed at his face before dropping it into the couch by his side ungracefully. The book was spoiled for him now, he would have to find a different one.

Yin stood up and approached the bookshelves again. He slid the book back into its place before examining the many books he still had yet to touch. Many strange and foreign names stood out to him as he scanned the spines, trying to decide on one that sounded interesting.

Off to the side he heard the soft sound of Ruby stepping out of the kitchen again, "Are you sure you don't want any, Yin?" She called for him, "Dad got your favorite cookies this time."

Yin only gave her a biting glance before returning to his search. What was up with her? Had he not made it clear enough that he wanted nothing to do with her? Why was she so hellbent on getting him to play with her?"

"Look. Ruby. I'm trying to relax right now. I'm not in the mood to play with you right now. I would rather just read, Alright?" His eyes drifted upward, and landed on one of the books above the fireplace. Its emerald green cover stood out to him, and he found himself drawn to it.

Standing on his tiptoes, Yin stretched out his hand and fumbled for the book- the warmth of the fire heated his stomach as he got a little too close to the flickering heat, but soon he managed to grasp the book and pull it down.

The cover was esoteric. A fanciful painting stretched out across the front, intricate and heralding a depth that he could hardly comprehend. But his eyes were drawn to it nonetheless, marveling at the sheer detail put into the image. He read the finely stylized cursive of the title; _The_ _Paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci and other Renaissance Artists_. Now _this_ sounded interesting. He could while away a few hours with this.

"I… I just want to spend time with you…" Ruby mumbled, and he almost thought that she was biting back tears. But he was far past caring now.

He didn't want to hate Ruby, he really didn't. But it was simply something that he couldn't help anymore. Maybe she didn't deserve to have a brother that despised her, but that was just the hand that fate dealt her. He wouldn't apologize for what was outside his control. It was just something she would have to live with.

In fact, all this cloak and dagger wasn't fair to her. It was cruel to give her the hope that he actually cared for her. Masking his ire wasn't doing her any favors, it was just postponing the problem. If he laid out his feelings clearly and concisely right here and now he could finally make it clear where they stood- and how he felt about her.

It would devastate her. She was such a fragile thing; compassionate and naive in all the right and wrong ways. Knowing that her own brother hated her would be crushing. But hiding it for even more years would just make it worse.

Yin nodded to himself. Yes, it may seem cruel, but this was for her own good. She would learn to live with it, she was strong, just like her mother. This was for the best, he told himself. He shifted his head and stared her down, the book weighty in his hands.

" **Look over here."**

Yin froze in his spot. His eyes flew wide open, his body going ramrod straight as the sinister voice ripped apart his concentration. The crackle of the fire and the morning chirp of birds instantly ceased; an awful, crushing silence beginning to blanket the room. Every cell in his body was frozen, his mind so filled with terror that he couldn't even muster the courage to twitch a finger.

Ruby stared at him in confusion, her own eyes perking up as she noticed her brother's state. Confusion wormed into her as she watched him stand so very still… It was unnatural, and it made her heart beat just a little faster.

" **Look. Over. Here."**

Yin let out a few hushed breaths, his eyes twitching and sweat clearly beginning to slide down his cheek and through his fingers. It was pure primal instinct that grasped him now. An overwhelming sense of 'wrongness'. In that moment he feared for his very life. With every sinister word that echoed through the room, he felt himself tense up further and further; like a string being wound up tight enough to snap.

He was unequipped to handle this level of sheer terror. Never before had he felt something even remotely close to this feeling. Even in his own home, the place where he felt the safest, he could not shake his terror. That unfamiliar voice had completely captivated him, and he feared that any wrong move on his end would spell his doom.

"Yin…? Are you okay?" Ruby stared at him with concern. She had never seen him like this. Yin had always seemed so… steady to her. Unshakeable. To suddenly see pure terror streak across his face...

Yin didn't even look at her. In that moment, he was hyper focused on himself. He could feel every twitch of his body from his overdriven nerves. Ever faint movement of his eye as he fought the overwhelming urge to run. Like a deer cowering beneath a tiger.

" **Hey. Didn't you hear me? I said, look over here."** The voice never changed its tone. It simply remained at that terrifying state of blood-curdling coldness.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Yin began to turn his head- spurred on by the voice's demands. He felt as if he were underwater; every sound was ten times louder than it should have been, the room felt darker and smaller than normal, and every single motion of his body felt like it was in slow motion. All his senses were focused solely on the thudding of his heart, and the overwhelming presence behind him.

When he finally managed to turn around, his eyes naturally drifted down toward the couch he had just been sitting on. His lip trembled as his fear only doubled, the tension forcing fresh sweat down his neck and an increase to the intensity of his panicked breathing. For a moment he saw nothing, then it made itself clear.

There, hidden in the shadows beneath the couch where no light could reach, were two beady purple eyes. They cut straight through the darkness, glaring directly at him as they glowed with an ethereal light. He could have sworn he felt his heart stop when he saw it.

"Y-Yin?! Please, say something!"

The faint, yet loud noise of rolling metal tracks filled the room. The hanging skirt of the couch pushed out and away as the eyes began to shift forward, slowly lumbering toward the frozen child. When the front skirt fell away, the thing was out in the light; free for the world to see.

The first thing he could compare it to was a tank. But the only real attribute it shared with such things were the thick metal treads on either side of its body. The thing was hardly any larger than a baseball, but its size had no merit on how terrifying it was. It was made up of rounded metal plates, layered over each other with a circular yellow core pressed into its top. Primarily it was colored blue with green tracks, making it stand out hauntingly against the wood of the floor.

But what drew his eyes the most was what was on its front. The bones of a skull sat upon the metal tank front; intensely realistic, with peculiar dentations that resembled ears and the addition of a knife just upon its forehead; above the sharp nose that poked out far past the face. But the most shocking thing about that skull were its eyes; black pools of nothingness with two rings of purple that just wouldn't leave him.

The tank was unlike anything he had ever seen before. And for one of the few times in his life, he found himself at a complete loss; unsure what to do.

"Ruby… Get away." He whispered, as if he would set it off if he spoke too loud. This thing was _dangerous_. He had to get away right now. Carefully, he reached behind him and pulled one of the fire pokers out of the hearth- to defend himself with. Not that he thought he could at this moment.

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Ruby said, as if she were oblivious to his terror. "Yin… What's going on?"

Something grabbed a hold of him. It was an intensely powerful thought that came crashing into his head, stealing his attention and forcing him to act on pure instinct. He didn't know why, he didn't know what the feeling was, but he just knew that if he stayed there any longer then he would surely die. It was pure and unadulterated survival instinct.

Yin dove hard. The book tossed aside as he threw himself away from the tank as hard as he could, uncaring of what he crashed into. The moment he dove, the tank did too. Its treads squealed hard as it suddenly leapt with extreme force to where he just stood, its speed intense. Yin managed to clear the way just in time, the thing flying past him as he crashed a good distance away, knocking over a small table with his desperate maneuver.

Without its target to stop it, the tank sailed through the air and dunked itself into the flames of the fireplace. Those rabid red flames swallowed it whole, the tank disappearing into the fire with a crash.

Yin crawled backwards, his heart racing as he still panicked to put distance between them. Somewhere in the background he thought he heard Ruby shouting something, but he was solely focused on escaping now.

He was lucky. If he hadn't kept moving he would have surely died.

**Click**

From within the well of fire, something flashed, and Yin instinctually covered his face. A remnant-shaking explosion rocked the house, the flames bursting into a grand plume that completely shattered the fireplace- sending books and shrapnel flying across the room. It wasn't just a single explosion; multiple ear-drum bursting eruptions surged from the fireplace, each one feeding off the last as the explosion wrecked everything within a few feet of hearth. The wave of heat and shards of brick blew out fast. The shards moving with enough speed to pierce the floorboards and pepper the couch.

The force of the explosion was enough to pick Yin off the ground and send him flying head over heels with a cry of shock, brutally throwing him into and denting the far wall where he crashed down. His ears rang, he felt dust on his tongue, and he could hardly tell the floor from the ceiling. It was a miracle that he was still tightly gripping onto the fire poker; the twisted metal rod digging into his hand.

Ruby screamed with terror, the sudden explosion catching her completely off guard and forcing her to crouch down and cover her ears. When she finally worked up the courage to peer up, she was utterly horrified to find the room covered with ash and a sizable burn mark scorching the floor around where the fireplace was.

Yin groggily pushed himself up, his body aching something fierce and his head spinning. Ruby was on him in an instant, her small hands helping to pull him up to his knees. Despite her fear and confusion she still had seen him be thrown into the wall, she had to make sure he was okay.

"Yin! Are you okay?! Why did the fireplace explode?!" She cried, visibly shaking from the shock.

Yin coughed and shook his head, but he couldn't answer her. His eyes were firmly locked on what remained of the fireplace, and he couldn't help but gasp when he saw that tank come flying out of the debris. What the hell… That explosion looked like it did nothing to it! In fact, there wasn't even a single scratch mark on it! Was it the cause of the explosion? What the hell even was it?

For a moment it wheeled about on its treads, but soon it zeroed in and leaped again; this time aiming straight for one of the few withering motes of flame scattered about the floor from the explosion. The moment it touched that ember, the thing made an audible 'click' and burst- forcing Yin to flinch back from the shockwave. It wasn't nearly as big of an explosion as before, but it was still more than enough to send cold worry tearing through him.

As soon as the flame and parts of the floor were devastated by the miniature explosion, the tank would whirl around and focus on another ember- repeating the process. What was it doing? Was it actually after him? He couldn't make heads or tails of its actions, but even still he knew this thing was deadly.

The two siblings watched as the floor was filled with explosion after explosion. Ruby was the only one who found her voice. "Yin… Why is the floor exploding? What's happening?" She desperately shook him, making it clear that she needed an answer right now.

He sent her an incredulous look, "What...? Can't you see that thing?! That tank is doing it!"

"What? What tank?" Ruby stared at him with pure confusion.

For a moment he thought she was joking, but this was not the time for such things. How could she not see it?! The thing was impossible to miss, and there was no doubt in his mind that it was causing the explosions! "Stop kidding around! That tank right there! " He pointed at it, hushing his voice lest he attract its attention.

"I don't see any tank! I just see the floor exploding!"

Yin stared at her and felt his heart drop. There was absolutely no trace of a lie in her. She really couldn't see it. But… How could that be possible? He knew he wasn't hallucinating it! That thing was very real. So why was he the only one that could see it?!

A question for another time. They absolutely had to get away now; put some distance between themselves and that volatile creature. The first thing that came to mind was the kitchen, there was a scroll there that he could use to call for help- though he wasn't exactly confident that his parents could turn around and arrive in time to help. Regardless, this wasn't something he could handle alone.

Yin stood quickly, dragging Ruby along with him. The girl yelped, but didn't fight him, she just kept staring at the floor as slowly but surely it was ruined with explosions; the remaining flickers of flame beginning to die away. Yin ushered them backwards, his eyes still watching the tank as he guided them toward the kitchen- the fire poker held definisevely out in front of him. Just in the corner of his vision he could see the family scroll hooked up, just waiting for him to use.

He was being too hopeful.

With one last muted burst, the final ember was cruelly extinguished; leaving the floor bare with scorch marks and dentations. The tank's treads spun, rotating it around with a screech so that it could face them. The moment he saw those purple eyes zero in on him he lost all pretense of caution.

"Ruby! Get up the stairs now!" He shouted, shoving her behind him and toward the staircase.

The thing's treads spun up, and it rocketed off toward them. Ruby screamed in terror as she saw the invisible thing leave visible tread marks on the floor, the sight completely incomprehensible to her. She obediently obeyed her brother, stumbling over herself to take the staircase while Yin fearfully backed away at the encroaching creature.

Thinking quickly, Yin grabbed the nearest thing he could find, a heavy vase that Tai found at a garage sale. It was as big as his head, and heavier than iron, and perfect for throwing. Yin heaved it and launched it at the tank, pure luck taking control when he landed a direct hit on that skull faceplate.

The vase shattered on impact but accomplished its job. The tank blew backward, knocked off its treads as it spun away on its side. His breath of relief was short lived; the tank was already tipping back onto its treads.

Yin shot his head back and saw that Ruby was almost at the top of the stairs, quickly he stumbled backwards onto them. As he moved, the tank righted itself and locked on him again. He backed away, and the thing zoomed toward him. He now only had seconds to act before he was reduced to a bloody stain on the stairs.

" **Look over here!"** The creature barked before leaping off the ground, aiming over the railing of the stairs to try and impact him directly.

Without thinking, Yin slung his arm forward, the fire poker slipping from his hand as he desperately tossed it at the thing.

**Click.**

The moment the spiked tip of the poker met that skull it flashed brightly, and exploded. A plume of smoke billowed out as the poker was reduced to nothing. The wave of heat threw him into the wall, nearly dislocating his shoulder from the impact. Yin groaned but took the chance for what it was; turning his back on the explosion and stumbling after Ruby while clutching his shoulder.

He cleared the stairs and came face to face with the worried silver eyes of his sister. It was obvious just how shaken she was, but she wasn't panicking yet, he admired that. It made this a lot easier too- if they started acting irrationally then they were as good as dead.

"A-Are you okay, Yin?! That explosion…"

He took her shoulders in his hands, making sure to keep the fear and pain from his face so he wouldn't scare her. Right now he needed to stay calm, he needed to project confidence, otherwise she would fall apart. "I don't know what's happening Ruby, but I need you to stay calm. Just listen to everything I say and we'll be okay, alright?"

He looked back over his shoulder. The wall of smoke was obfuscating the entire lower portion of the staircase. He couldn't even begin to see what was down there, but if he had to guess then that tank was likely still kicking about. As long as it was there they couldn't get back down to the scroll in the kitchen.

"W-what was that thing?" Ruby muttered.

"...I don't know. Maybe a Grimm?" Though he doubted it. He had never seen a real life grimm before, but of all the stories he had heard about them, none came close to resembling what he saw in the living room.

Grimm were creatures of darkness that existed solely to hunt humanity. They ranged from hulking bear-like monsters to skulking carapaced spiders that preyed on errant caravans. The actions of that tank were… sporadic. Not at all aligning with the bloodthirsty, primal nature he imagined Grimm to have. No… This was something else. Something much more dangerous.

Ruby began to shiver more under his hands and he quickly moved to get her mind off the idea of Grimm, "It doesn't matter what it is. We just need to get away for now."

There were avenues to take, ideas that he formulated and thought on to get them out of this situation. Obviously the first thing he considered were his parents; if anyone could keep him safe, it would be them. But they were still slated to be gone for a couple more hours at least, and he couldn't reach the scroll right now either way. Even if he did somehow manage to find a way around to call them, there was no guarantee they would arrive in time to help them.

Destroying the thing was another option. But neither of them had any idea how to fight, and it was nearly impossible to get near the thing with all the explosions anyway. No. Directly confronting it would be too dangerous.

Before he could think any further he saw it. The smoke at the bottom of the staircase undulated, and bursting from its haze was the tank; the open mouth stare of its skull solely trained on him. The tank slammed into the wall, and against all laws of physics it began to rapidly drive toward them. Its treads stuck to the wall, allowing it to drive across the surface and completely disregard the stairs.

"Ruby! Go lock yourself in your room!" The girl gave him an incredulous look, not at all liking the idea of leaving his side, but he was in no mood to argue. "Hurry! It's coming!"

She quickly nodded and raced across the hall to her room, Yin backed away at the approaching tank, feeling his heart thudding just behind his ears. He had to buy time, enough to build some sort of barricade or trap. The thing was too fast to run away from, and with the snow blanketing everything for a mile, he knew they wouldn't be able to just escape.

Yin tightened his hand into a fist, staring down the creature as it grew nearer still. He would have to land one solid hit on it and send it reeling down the stairs. It was a desperate gamble, and he could only hope that it wouldn't set it off this time. Maybe there was some limiter to when it could explode, or maybe he could do it fast enough that it wouldn't have time to kill him.

He was grasping at straws, but he was well and truly out of options now. He stamped down on his doubt and pulled his fist back.

The tank dipped forward before leaping once again, flying with intense speeds as it cleared the last of the steps. "Gahh!" Yin screamed, punching at it with sheer horror in his eyes.

Except, his fist never landed. Yin's eyes shot wide open with shock. The world slowed down as he incredulously watched the tank soar over his outstretched fist like some strange bird. It continued to fly, clearing his head and roughly impacting just behind him. He blinked rapidly, whirling around with sheer confusion as he watched it impact.

Then, without any fanfare, it rocketed away from him. For a short second he simply stood there at a loss. It… missed him? No. It was more like it ignored him. But… why?

A shrill scream forced him to look up in shock. There he noticed Ruby who had yet to shut the door to her bedroom. She had noticed the tracks under the tank, and that they were quickly moving toward her. She fumbled for the door, but evnetually her terror gave in and she simply ducked into her room- the door still wide open.

Lightning arced through him. The tank wasn't after him! It was after Ruby! It completely ignored him because he wasn't its true target!

"Damn!" He cursed.

Ruby stumbled over her own feet as she rushed into her and Yang's bedroom. With a cry, she tipped over and hit the carpet. Behind her she could hear the sound of metal clinking, and she knew that the thing- whatever it was, was gaining on her. She flipped herself onto her back, desperately crawling backwards to escape the invisible Grimm monster.

Nothing made sense to her. Not only was her safe home suddenly not so safe, but it was plagued by a creature that she couldn't even _see._ Some terrifyingly dangerous creature that could actually hurt her. And the worst part was that her parents weren't here to stop it like she always thought they would be. If her mom was here she could have handled the thing easily, invisible or not.

Now it was just her and her brother against something that could kill either of them in an instant, and all those dreams of heroism felt so shallow now. What could she possibly do now?

As she backed away, she saw it. Small segmented indentations that appeared in the hall, training directly on her wide open bedroom door. She breathed harder, watching the treads pick up speed until it was only a few feet away from the door. Then, with the painful sound of screeching wood, the tread marks disappeared.

It must have leapt at her. She was speechless. It was just too cruel. She couldn't even _see_ her end coming. There was no sound to herald its approach, no whistle or shifting of the wind to give it away; but she could still feel it nearing. Like the very presence of death itself.

"Oh no you don't!" A sudden yell shattered the moment, a flash of color appeared in the doorway, lunging toward her. Yin pounced with incredible speed, his face tense with concentration and his hand outstretched. Audibly, his fingers clamped down on something a mite larger than a baseball.

His hand hovered in midair for a moment, his fingers pressing down on some invisible thing that hovered just mere inches away from the little girls face. Ruby stared up at his tense expression, her entire body stock still with terror.

Yin spun on his foot, using every inch of strength in his body to fling the tank back through the doorway. Right now he didn't know what he was doing; he was simply acting on pure instinct. He just had to get that thing away from her. Maybe grabbing the explosive creature was idiotic, but he couldn't take that back now.

**Click**

But he was too late. He managed to fling the thing toward the doorway, but he barely managed to create a foot of space before the tank flashed. There was only enough time to cross his arms in front of him and shield Ruby's small form before it burst into a shower of sparks, heat, and smoke.

It pressed down on him hard, like a wall of flame crashing down from the heavens. "T-This power!" This time the shrapnel flung from it impacted him directly; one piercing his cheek just beneath his eye, another tearing into the meat of his thigh, and one more casting a glancing blow into his shoulder. Each new hole in his body spewed blood, staining his clothes and making him choke in pain. "Guuahh!"

Yin collapsed, the force of the explosion sending him straight into the ground. Ruby cried out in horror at the sight of his blood flying up into the air. She was at his side in an instant, tears building up in her eyes as she tried to help him up.

He just pushed aside her hands with a haggard cough, "The door, Ruby! The door!" She blinked in confusion before understanding dawned on her and she was up in a flash. With her almost inhuman speed, Ruby tackled the door closed, sealing them away from the tank that he had thrown into the hall.

Slowly she backed away and Yin used the nearby bed to achingly push himself back onto a knee. The door shook with a bang, the tank crashing into it from the other side, but it held… For the moment.

"A-are we safe now?"

Yin shook his head, "For now... But if that thing breaks down the door, there won't be anywhere to run." Ruby blanched when she realized that and scurried away from the door and to his side. They each took a moment to catch their breath, who knew if they would get another chance.

"You're bleeding…" Ruby muttered, gently touching his cheek just beneath the freshly bleeding gouge upon his face. Yin grunted and felt his wound, his hand coming back soaked with red. And… Shaking. His left hand was trembling heavily. Just what had that thing done to him?

"I'm lucky. It could have been a lot worse." If he were a moment later, he could have very well lost his arm. The wounds hurt, but he counted himself lucky.

Ruby looked away, guilt written across her face. "I'm sorry. If I just listened to you and didn't wait, you wouldn't have gotten hurt…"

As much as he wanted to blame her for this situation, he knew that wouldn't be fair. "No, Ruby. This is my own fault. I shouldn't have split us up like that. I had no idea how it would act. I'm… Sorry for putting you in danger." Yin muttered, ashamed in himself. That kind of risk wasn't one he could take again. Not after he already promised to keep her safe.

Ruby blinked, shocked at his honesty. Yin had _never_ showed her this much care before.

Yin was oblivious to her look, he coughed and heaved himself back up to his feet. The hole in his leg ached something fierce, and it would slow him down, but he could ignore it for now. He examined the bedroom. It was almost identical to his own save for the extra bed, and the abundance of toys scattered about.

What really drew his attention was the window. They had to get away from that tank, and right now the only other way out of this room besides the door was the window. Limping over to it, Yin pushed up the slats and parted the shades so he could get a look through the frosty glass. He glanced down, examining the backyard of their home. It was… a long way down. But with all that snow, they should be able to survive the fall.

No, what really worried him was what would come after the fall. If they did survive, then they would be up a creek without a paddle. The snow was thick enough to slow them down considerably, and there was absolutely no cover in sight. Even worse, he was certain that the back door was locked; so they wouldn't be able to get back into the house. If that thing came after them while they were down there, then they were as good as dead.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way out.

Unconsciously, his hand drifted up toward his mouth. His right finger slipped between his teeth and he bit down, chewing at his nail while scowling in worry. He began to chew so hard that the skin of his finger split open, blood beginning to drip down his hand.

"If I just knew what that thing was… How its chasing us… I could stop it!" The worst part of all this was the mystery. An unknown creature that was hunting him for an unknown reason and using unknown power to do it. Everything about this grated on him and sent his blood pressure skyrocketing.

"Yin! I think I figured it out!" Ruby called to him, stealing his attention back to her. "I know how its chasing us!"

He scowled, turning away from her, "You can't even see it, Ruby."

"I-I know… But I know I'm right! Please just listen to me!" Yin glanced around the room again, but nothing came to him. He was well and truly out of ideas, and when he saw the door begin to crack in the corner of his eye, he knew he didn't have anymore time to think.

"Fine... If you know something then tell me." Yin hobbled over to her, and Ruby instantly brightened, pleased to have his ear.

"Do you remember that Atlas weapons manual that mom got me? The one with those cool robots and the new uses for dust?"

Yin thought on it. Yes, he recalled, that manual was something he had seen about in the house. Usually Ruby or Summer would find time to read those things, their intense interest in weapons making them amass a trove of magazines dedicated to new fanciful advances in warfare. He felt that he could put a gun together just based on the things he had overheard them talking about.

"Well… One of the weapons in the manual had a special mechanism that allowed it to home in on bad Grimm to destroy them. They make these special missiles that use that tech too!" Ruby rambled off, speaking much faster when the door splintered again. "I-I think that that thing is using the same system!"

Homing technology… It made enough sense, he supposed. If indeed it wasn't a grimm, but a man made weapon, then it would stand that it would need something like that. "But… what kind of homing technology are you talking about?"

"Heat-seeking missiles!" Ruby finished, frowning seriously.

Yin simply scoffed, "Heat-seeking… Sure, it's possible I guess. But you're just guessing. There's no way to be sure _how_ it's chasing us."

Ruby stamped her foot, "No! I'm positive that's how it's doing it! And I have proof!" Ruby raised her hand and showed him something, Yin frowned as he saw the remnants of a piece of twisted metal in her hand. "Yin. Don't you think that the… thing, is moving weird? You can see it! Don't you think that its acting strangely?"

Now that she mentioned it… The movements of that thing were strange. As strange as such a thing could get. He had been too panicked to think on it much before, but with this moment of calm he began to realize the discrepancies in the chase.

"It had many chances to attack us, but it never did! That's because we weren't always its targets! Its true targets are the warmest things in the room!"

"!" Yin started, not quite believing what he just heard. But the more he thought on it… The more a dawning realization fell over him.

"When it first attacked you, you weren't actually its target! It was aiming for the fireplace! And after that it still didn't go after you, instead it attacked the rest of the flames because they were warmer than we are!" Ruby Rose shouted, trying to get through to him. "Even on the stairs it wasn't aiming for you! It was after the fire-poker that you pulled out of the flames! It was still hot enough to attract its attention!"

The pieces began to fall into place. "So you're saying… Now that there's nothing hot left, its after us because of our body temperature?"

Ruby grinned, "Exactly! Just like those Atlas missiles! Except… A lot scarier."

Such a thing… Was it even possible? It shouldn't make sense, and yet it did. Everything Ruby said made complete sense. If it truly was a heat-seeking weapon then that explained everything. But what could he do with this information? It wasn't like he could remove their body temperature…

He blinked. No… He couldn't do that… But _that_ just might work.

"Ruby…" He said, a small grin pulling at the corner of his lips. His hand moved up and patted the top of her head, "Good job. You might have just saved our lives."

"I-I did?" A hopeful tinge lifted her voice, the sudden burst of confidence in her brother leeching off to her.

"Without a doubt." Yin turned back toward the opposite end of the room, and staggered over to the closet at the corner. He tore open the door and his eyes instantly locked onto a second door in that small closet space. He didn't have much time, he would have to hope to oum this would work.

He pushed past the clothes, pried the door open and gazed upon what was inside. The inner closet was very dark, and not very large at all. But there, taking up the majority of the space inside, was a massive metal cylinder. Pipes of different sizes and colors routed into it, the thing covered in warning labels and dials that he couldn't make sense of.

The house water heater. He had almost forgotten that it was installed in the closet of his old room.

His eyes roamed over the apparatus. His knowledge of plumbing fixtures was limited at best, but he could make a few educated guesses and hope that luck was on his side. Carefully he ran a finger over a springy piece of metal sticking out. "Ruby. Can you get me something hard?"

"Hard? Ummm…" Ruby glanced around the room before snatching one of the errant toys up and tossing it to him, "Here!"

"Gah!" Yin yelped, the hard plastic toy bouncing off his forehead. "I didn't say throw it at me!"

"S-Sorry!"

Grumbling he stooped down and snatched it up to give it a once over. In his hand was one of those toy ambulances that came in those play sets. It was made of fairly dense plastic and had some serious heft to it, if the bump on his forehead was to go by. Clicking his teeth, Yin wrapped his hand around it and brought it over to the boiler; one of his eyes closing as he raised his fist above his head and brought it down with great force.

The ambulance crashed down upon the temperature and pressure release valve, completely shattering it with a shrill _hiss._ The piece of metal fell away, a gout of steam bursting from the pipe and forcing Yin to back away with a cough. Next, boiling hot water began to pour out of the cylinder- splashing into the floor pan and sizzling.

Yin gazed upon his work before backing away and joining the curious Ruby by the beds. "Okay… Listen up, Ruby. We only have one chance to make this work. I'm counting on you, alright?"

Ruby nodded, her hair flying as she stared up at him resolutely. "I won't let you down!"

* * *

" **Look over here!"** With that cold cry, the tank finally shattered the hinges of the door- allowing it to leap into the room and set its fearsome purple eyes on the brother and sister duo; the two facing it unwaveringly. Instantly its treads wound up and sent it careening in their direction.

Ruby whimpered as she saw the treads begin to imprint the carpet, but a strong hand on her shoulder kept her steady. Yin never turned his eyes away from the weapon. "Don't hesitate! As soon as I say, we make a break for it! Ready?!"

To tell the truth, every part of his being urged him to make a break for it now- to throw caution to the wind and escape in the face of this predator. But he stamped down on those feelings with impunity. He was Yin Xiao Long. He would never bend to any force in the world again. They would overcome this nightmare without a doubt.

The treads hiccuped, a nearly imperceptible hesitation flashing through the tank. "Now!" Together, they both roared and sprinted toward the tank. They ran straight toward it, and Yin couldn't help but smirk when the tank harmlessly raced between their legs, completely ignoring them as it drifted recklessly into the ajar closet.

Ruby was spot on. The tank could only target the hottest thing in its presence. Usually, that would be their body heat. But now it could only target the basin full of boiling hot water in the closet; something with far more heat than they had.

Yin and Ruby burst out into the hallway. He only had moments before the tank targeted them again and they needed to pick up the pace. The older brother glanced over to the staircase. The plan was to get downstairs as quickly as possible. If they could just get to the first floor then their survival was secured.

But… The staircase was further away than he expected. To get to it, they would first have to cross back through this hallway. They may be able to make it to it, but they wouldn't be able to get downstairs quick enough to execute the rest of the plan. They needed a way to get down faster.

Inevitably, his eyes were drawn to the banister of the hallway. A smooth wooden railing that overlooked the downstairs living room, like the short railing that separated onlookers from a zoo enclosure.

"Wh-Why did we stop Yin?! We have to hurry!" Ruby yelled up to him, still staunchly by his side.

He wouldn't hesitate. He had to act now. Without missing a beat, Yin reached out and wrapped his arms around Ruby, pulling her toward him so her back was flush with his chest. The girl ' _eeped'_ and glanced at him in confusion. Making sure he was holding her tight, Yin bent his legs slightly.

With a grunt, the young man jumped; sending both of them careening over the railing, directly into the living room a floor down. Ruby screamed in shock, horrified at the sudden daring action. Yin merely clamped his jaw and held her tighter, making sure to angle their bodies so his would be the one that took the brunt of the fall.

And take it he did. The two fell directly onto the coffee table in the middle of the room. They landed with so much force that it broke completely in half, sending them to the floor in a shower of wood pieces. Ruby was a little shaken by the jarring fall, but Yin had his breath completely stolen. The feeling of crashing directly into a table from such a height was not a pleasant one, and he was sure that he would be bruised black for the rest of the week.

Up above, the sound of an explosion rang out. It shook the house and was accompanied with the sound of rushing water spraying everywhere up there. Their distraction had run its course.

"A-are you crazy!?" Ruby cried, pounding his chest.

Yin coughed again, but couldn't help but smirk. Yeah… It was a bit foolhardy, but he was just doing what Yang would have done. He smiled, just to calm her down, and pointed a shaky finger toward the kitchen. He couldn't find the strength to speak just yet, so he had to desperately hope that she would follow through with the rest of the plan.

To his immense relief, she saw his finger and nodded. With that speed of hers, she rocketed into the kitchen. Yin let his head fall back, gasping openly as he tried to catch his breath… And to not faint.

* * *

Ruby rushed into the kitchen. Her brothers instructions rang through her head as she rapidly glanced around. She was on the clock. If she had to guess, there were only seconds left before that scary thing came down here to finish the job. She had to do her part before then.

" _You have the speed, Ruby. Much more speed than I do. I'm counting on you to handle this part. I won't be able to find it fast enough"_

"There are three places it could be…" She chanted to herself, repeating the list over and over in her head. "Under the sink!" Ruby threw open the cabinets beneath the kitchen sink and tossed aside bottle after bottle of various soaps as she scrounged through it. With only a second spent, she was on her feet. "Not there…"

"Above the fridge!" Next she raced over, hopped up and off a chair, and balanced precariously on top of the fridge. She glared through the baskets there but came up empty. That only left…

"Bottom of the pantry!" She tore into the small closet space, ignoring the packages of cookies as she dipped a hand into the box at the floor. Her eyes instantly brightened. "Found it!" Ruby stepped away from the pantry. Clutched in her hands was a small plastic bag filled with four amber colored crystals.

"I… I did it!"

Her victory was short lived however. The unmistakable sound of clanking metal treads filled her ears as she snapped her head back to the staircase. Just at the bottom of the stairs she saw them; metal tracks racing toward her. If it was a couple minutes ago, she would have frozen in place with fear.

Now, she fought through that fear. "Yin!" She cried out, mustering all her strength to throw the bag of crystals back toward the living room hallway.

A pale hand snatched the crystals out of the air. Those fingers squeezed down on the bag with great force; enough that it cracked one of the crystals and forced it to begin glowing a bright orange. Yin, bloodied and wheezing, stood tall; the bag of fire dust clutched between his fingers as he glared down at the tank.

The tank stopped in its tracks. Yin panted as it turned to face him, its eyes locked firmly on the bag in his hand. Not a single cell in his body was afraid anymore; no trace of fear was left, only adrenaline and confidence. He had _won._

"This ends here and now!" He shouted, leaning backward to hook and thumb through the neck of his shirt and point the finger of his other hand at the tank. His hair billowed upward, revealing the full force of his confident scowl. "Our survival is assured!"

" **Look over here!"** The tank cried, flinging itself from where it stood and rushing down the young man. Yin didn't even flinch, he calmly reached into the bag and took hold of the glowing crystal. It was hot enough that it scorched his hand on contact.

Good.

Roaring, Yin took the dust crystal and slung it toward the living room. The red hot crystal impacted the far wall, bouncing down to the floor with a shrill noise. Immediately, the tank readjusted, its treads squealed and it nearly tipped as it made a 90 degree turn to rocket into the living room.

Yin didn't even stay to watch it. As soon as the crystal left his hand he spun on his feet and began racing down the halls, moving as fast as he possibly could without bumping into anything. He heard the explosion, and felt it send shockwaves through the floor beneath his feet. Smirking, he clenched the bag again, causing another one of the crystals to begin heating up.

As he raced down the hallways, he heard the treads behind. Already, it was zeroing in on the intense heat between his fingers. He didn't turn to look back at it, he just kept running. His goal appeared when he turned one last corner; a door, the one that lead to their backyard porch.

As he ran, a sudden blur of color appeared and heralded Ruby's arrival. She quickly took the door handle, unlocked it, and flung the door open. "Go, Yin!"

" **Look over here already!"**

"Thank you, Ruby!" He shouted, rushing through the open door with the tank only mere feet away from him now. He didn't slow his stride at all, he stepped barefoot onto the snow covered porch and reached down to take the dust crystal into his hand. "Raah!" He shouted, and threw the crystal with as much force as he could.

The tank leapt past him without any self-preservation. It soared over the railing of the porch, following the crystal exactly as it clattered into the snowdrift.

**Click**

The moment it impacted the crystal, it exploded with magnificent force. The smoke and brimstone billowed, scorching the snow into nothingness as the tank erupted with suffocating heat and pressure. He and Ruby had to shield their eyes from the blast of wind that blew into them.

But, miraculously, the explosion worked in their favor. While the detonation did wipe out the dust crystal, it had the unforeseen side-effect of also annihilating the snow layers. Particularly, it completely crushed the layer of ice just beneath the surface of the snow.

Ear-splitting cracks rang out as the floor beneath the falling tank suddenly gave way. A thick sheet of ice snapped, and when the tank impacted it broke straight through with a splash of frigid cold water that sprayed out into the open air.

The precise place Yin threw the crystal was calculated. Just beneath that exact drift of snow was one of the reservoirs of water that liked to build up in their backyard. Often during winter these lakes were frozen solid. He recalled its exact position from yesterday, and knew that if the tank blew up above it then it would surely break the ice and send it plummeting into the ice cold water.

" **G-Gah… Cold...Cold…"** The tank warbled, its treads failing to gain traction as it rolled about in the pond. Covered on all sides by such cold water, the tank was rendered completely useless. It could not move, and it could not detonate. It floundered, but everything it did only served to bury it further into the mixture of slushy ice and freezing cold water.

"Did… Did we get it?" Ruby tentatively asked as she stepped up beside him. She stared at the steaming hole in the snowdrift. Though she couldn't see the thing, she could still make out the shifting of the ice and water as it struggled in its prison. She dared to hope.

Yin watched for a moment longer, waiting to see if it had any more tricks up its sleeves. Then he smiled, a weak, exhausted smile. "Yeah. I think we got it. We… We did it."

Ruby immediately grabbed hold of him in an extremely tight hug. Yin gasped as he felt his injuries burn, but he pushed that down. Ruby held him tight, her face buried in his chest while she trembled like a soaked cat. She was… sobbing.

With all the adrenaline, she had managed to keep her emotions in check. But now, finally free of the danger, it all came rushing forward like a dam given release. Yin just rubbed her head and let her cry it out, she deserved it. She had stayed strong through this entire nightmare. There was no shame in crying now.

A long moment passed as he just held her.

When she was all cried out, she released him with a sniff. Her eyes were puffy and red and there was notable stain on the front of his shirt, but she looked a world better than she did a moment ago.

"What…" She sniffled and wiped at her nose childishly, "What do we do with it now?"

"Thats… A good question…" Yin murmured, turning back to stare at the immobilized tank. They couldn't exactly leave it there.

With its treads whirling uselessly, and that warbling cry it gave out now… Yin couldn't help but feel pity for it. Even after the hell it put them through. It looked more like an animal trapped in a tar pit than a weapon of mass destruction. Blinking, he turned his gaze down and stared at his left hand. His hand felt unnaturally cold, and it was _still_ shaking.

Come to think of it, there were still some things he didn't understand. The tank did hunt them by their body heat, that was undebatable, but its actions were still strange. His mind flashed back to that moment on the stairs where it completely ignored him.

That shouldn't have happened. The tank should have killed him then and there, yet it didn't. At the time he chalked it up to Ruby being the true target, but that didn't make sense anymore. If it was attracted to body heat then there was no reason it shouldn't have gone after him too.

Where did it come from? Was it truly a Grimm? Did someone set it loose on them? Or…

A single, strange thought came into his head as he watched his hand shake. Yin pushed away from the railing of the porch in a trance, and stomped toward the stairs that led down and out into the backyard.

Ruby watched him go, "H-Hey! Don't get too close to it! It might still be dangerous!"

Yin nodded, but still continued to carefully step through the thick snow and move toward the stuck tank. The freezing cold bit into his legs and he could already feel his feet getting numb, but he ignored that for the moment. Eventually, only a handful of feet separated him from their tormentor.

" **Cold… Cold…"** It muttered again and fought against the ice prison. Yin watched with bated breath as his left hand trembled in time with its movements. It couldn't be…

Yin glanced up to Ruby who watched him with bare worry, obviously not comfortable with him getting so close to something so dangerous. He turned back toward the tank and stared at it again. Looking at it now… This thing was familiar. One of the most intense episodes of deja vu struck him, and unconsciously he found himself kneeling down. His left hand stretching out toward the tank.

"Yin!" Ruby called to him again, but he wasn't listening.

The inches shrank away, his fingers tentatively reaching out until they finally met the cooling metal of the tank. To his immense surprise it did not explode at his touch. Only hesitating one last time, Yin wrapped his hand around it. It didn't fight him as he lifted it clear of the water, leaving the ice to clatter away without it- water dripping languidly off its chassis.

Off on the porch Ruby was holding her breath. Why… Why did he pull it out?! Was he crazy?!

Yin stared into the purple eyes of the skull. Suddenly… They weren't so terrifying anymore. In fact, there was something almost comforting about seeing them. Familiar. Like a runaway pet that manages to find its way back to your home years later.

"Now it makes sense… The reason you didn't attack me was because you _couldn't_." This thing was not here to hurt him. It _belonged_ to him. It was physically incapable of targeting him; that was why Ruby was in so much danger.

This tank… No. He knew better now. It had a name. A real one; one that resonated with his very soul. Though the words were completely foregin to him, they still pounded within his skull like the tempo to a drum.

" **Sheer Heart Attack…** " Yin muttered, staring in awe at the tank. Any and all apprehension left him; he had absolutely nothing to fear from this. **Sheer Heart Attack** stared back at him before its shell started to glow; hard metal began to give way as it turned translucent. The tank faded into pure energy, disintegrating into an amorphous mass of radiant light that seeped directly into his left hand.

Within seconds, it was gone. But in its place, a pleasant warmth filled his heart. Despite the injuries littering his body, he had never felt this strong in his life. It was like being reborn.

"Y-Yin…?" Ruby tentatively stepped down into the snow and walked over to him, though it was obvious she was ready to bolt at any moment. "You're not gonna… Um, _blow up_. Right?" Her eyes were positively spinning. One moment they were fleeing for their lives, the next Yin was picking up the invisible bomb like it was nothing! Who did that?!

The only conclusion she could come to was that her brother was insane. Yup. Jury dismissed.

Yin laughed breathily and stood up, wincing at the pull to his injuries. He flexed his left hand, marveling at where the tank disappeared to. "Its alright Ruby. It's gone now."

"It… It is?" Ruby dared to be hopeful. She glanced down to the hole in the ice, noticing that no more movement came from it.

"Yes. It's safe now. It can't hurt us again." She let out a sigh and leaned into him again, her body slackening with the loss of adrenaline. Ruby didn't really understand, but she trusted Yin; if he said it was okay, then it was.

"Now…" Yin shivered, feeling the cold wind begin to cut through his thin sleepwear. "It's freezing out here. Lets get inside."

It was all over now.

* * *

"Oh… Right." Yin winced as they stepped into the living room. The damage was… intense. He had never seen the house in such poor shape. Scorch marks littered everything, the table in the center of the room was split in half, countless things were knocked over or outright destroyed, holes littered the walls and couches, and the fireplace was pretty much nonexistent.

Then there was the staircase, which boasted the same explosive scorch marks. Yin didn't even want to imagine what Ruby and Yang's room looked like. Blowing up a water heater could not be a pretty sight.

"Oh wow… Do you think mom and dad are going to be mad about this?"

Yin didn't want to face that idea right now. "...We're going to have to clean this place up before they get back." And he needed to at least bandage his wounds too. If their family came home now… He didn't even want to imagine the fallout.

Yet… neither of them moved. They just stared at the wreckage dubiously. Both of them were too tired to actually initiate the cleaning. After all that, were they seriously meant to try and pick up the pieces?

Hell no. He needed a break.

"Do you… Want to get something to eat first?"

Ruby nodded immediately, "Yes please."

…

…

Yin sat next to Ruby at the dining table. He spooned another scoop of the sugary cereal into his mouth while Ruby did the same. They both stared at the blackened living room as they ate, simply enjoying the chance to cool down after their eventful morning. Yin was patched up now, a few winding wraps taped around the hole in his leg and a bandage slapped over the one on his face.

Ruby looked over to him curiously, "I thought you didn't like my cereal?" She gestured to the bowl of multi-colored marshmallows in front of him.

Yin glanced down at his bowl for a moment in surprise, before shrugging, "Huh... Didn't even notice. I guess they've grown on me."

She simply giggled and took another bite from her bowl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Compared to the rest of the chapters, this one is LONG. And I'm proud of it too. I feel I managed to touch on exactly how I would want this story to pan out certain events AND managed to maintain the parts that interested you all in the first place.
> 
> Good action, high stakes, family values, and little tid-bits that can go missed if you dont pay enough attention. A very fun chapter and probably what inspired me to write this in the first place.
> 
> This aint just a fluff piece pal, we're in the JJBA universe whether we like it or not. Looking forward to following this journey with you all.


	5. Chapter 5

Cleaning had gone… About as well as one would expect. With the direction of Yin, they managed to make a good dent into the mess and get things moving back toward some semblance of normal. The scorch marks, which were superficial at best for the most part, took some elbow grease to grind out, and the careful maneuvering of rugs would hide the holes wrought by shrapnel for the time being.

However, some things were hopeless. Cushions too riddled with burns and holes had to be thrown out, illegible books tossed with them, and a solid hour was spent just trying to get the tang of smoke out of the carpet. The two siblings worked tirelessly, and at some point late in the day they stopped and crumpled to rest.

The two simply stared at what remained of the fireplace. The debris and scorch marks had been cleaned away, but there was very little they could do for the actual hole in the wall. That entire area was destroyed, giving a naked view of the foundational walls of their home.

"C-Can we even fix that?" Ruby groaned, laying face down and letting her tired body rest. Manual labor was not a favorite of hers on her best days.

Yin sighed and ducked his head, careful not to touch his face with his hands which were coated in grime and soot. No matter how he wracked his brain, he couldn't even begin to find a way to cover this up. It would take many hours and a whole lot of patience to even start to repair this; something neither of them had.

Then there was the upstairs bedroom. Yin had the foresight to shut off the house water supply the moment the danger had passed, but it was still too little too late. A nice pond of water had risen in that closet space, and the water heater was unsalvageable; more a wreck of steaming metal twisted under the force of an explosion. He just shut the door and ignored that part of the house.

Apart from those two, the house had been cleaned admirably. There were very few scorches along the wood finish of the home, anything destroyed or toppled was returned to its rightful place or thrown away. It had taken many hours, and the sun was well on its way to its descent, but it was worth it.

Yin coughed and pressed on his knee to pull himself up. He looked over to the split coffee table, one of the few remaining things left broken. His back flared up for a moment, a clear reminder that he was still very injured and that all this labor was going to have consequences tonight.

"Ruby, come give me a hand with this." Even his voice was utterly exhausted, carrying none of the usual vigor.

Ruby nodded into the floor before popping up. Together, they each took a side of one of the halves of the table and heaved it up. Physically, the eldest and youngest siblings were rather weak; Ruby on account of her small frame, and Yin due to his indifference to fitness. So when it came to things like this, teamwork was a necessity.

"Now… Just take it slow. We have to-" Ruby dropped her end, and Yin jumped in shock. The wood hit the ground hard, Yin hastened to drop his own end with the shift of its weight. "H-Hey! What the-!"

Ruby just pointed past him. Yin paused and looked over his shoulder, a sudden bright light filtering through the window landed on his shocked eyes. With how dark it had gotten outside, it was unmistakable what it could be. Car lights pulling up the path to their home.

They were out of time.

Yin backed off from the table in a clear panic, Ruby doing the same as she fretted over the state of the room. He glanced from the remaining destruction to the door, obviously weighing his options. There was no more time to clean; the state it was in currently would have to do.

Next, he examined his own hands; there was nothing that he could do for his injuries but he could at least clean himself up while he still had time. The feel of dust caking the lines of his palms made him want to vomit. Same for Ruby, she had gotten a little dirty and he was hesitant to bring her before Taiyang in any state other than pristine.

But first… There was something he had to handle.

"Ruby." He took her shoulders and kneeled down a bit so he could look her directly in the eyes. The girl blinked and met his look, tilting a bit in confusion and apprehensiveness at the upcoming event. "Before they get in here, I need something from you."

"From me? What do you mean?"

He faltered for a moment at her innocent expression, but braved on.. "I… I need you to promise me that you wont tell mom and dad about what happened here."

Silence. Ruby merely blinked at him owlishly. Obviously, she had no clue what he was getting at. He might as well have been speaking a different language.

"The tank. The explosions. How it chased us… You absolutely cannot tell them about any of that." Yin continued, never looking away from her supremely confused eyes as he explained.

Now she was aghast, reeling backward with a bewildered expression. "Wha- Hide it?! Why would we hide it?!"

Why indeed. There were many reasons he felt that they should hide it, but only a few made sense outside his brain. Deep inside of him, some long-buried instinct simply told him that under no circumstances should he reveal the existence of **Sheer Heart Attack** unless completely necessary. The _why_ of that particular reason evaded him.

Even to his parents, the people he trusted above all else, he found himself shirking away from the idea of telling them. Did that make him a bad son? How could he possibly justify that?

Regardless, he had to be careful here. He needed her to listen to him, and he didn't have any time to waste.

"Look. There's no reason that they have to know exactly _what_ caused all this. In fact, even we don't know what it really was. It'd be easier for everyone if we just kept it secret." Yin kept his voice level but made sure to show nonchalance as well.

"Well… That's true." Ruby allowed but still frowned, "But isn't that just more reason to tell them? If they know, maybe they can figure out what it is… And, and, if it comes back then they'll be prepared!" A fair point from her stance.

If it was a couple hours ago, he would have agreed with her. But he could _feel_ it. He could feel that tank slumbering in his soul. It would obey his commands, and although he disliked Ruby he would _never_ allow it to threaten his family again.

"It won't come back, Ruby. At least, it won't put us in any danger ever again." It was difficult to explain when even now he still had no idea what the tank actually was. But **Sheer Heart Attack** was _his_ , whatever it was. That was all that mattered.

"Its gone for good. If we tell them now we'll just end up making them worried for nothing."

"W-worry them…?" Ruby hesitated again.

A stray thought passed through his mind and he latched onto it, realizing an opportunity to sway the young girl, underhanded as it was, "Yang has… She's been having a rough time lately. She's been stressed, and worried. It wouldn't be fair to bother her with this right now."

He found that he actually meant that despite his intentions. After last night, the last thing he wanted to put on her mind was the idea that she would need to protect them sooner than she expected. Or that she wasn't there when they were in danger. **Sheer Heart Attack** wasn't a danger any longer, but he still didn't want to burden Yang with the paranoia that knowing of its existence could bring.

Ruby obviously didn't know about that fact, "She… Really? I-I never knew…" Yin merely sighed at her downcast expression. At times, Yang was as good at hiding her feelings as he was. She was brash and prone to outbursts of anger or irrationality of course, but she often chose to keep her more sensitive issues close to her chest. That's why it didn't surprise him that Ruby didn't know about her troubles, despite their closeness.

"Yang rarely ever talks about stuff like that. Usually I have to drag it out of her." Yin chuckled, but his eyes grew more panicked when he saw the lights disappear from the window. Time was quickly running out. "Look. She just got her weapon. There's no reason to worry her with what happened this morning. Do you agree, Ruby?"

Ruby looked down and digested his words. He was swaying her, slowly but surely. It was an uphill battle, but he knew he was getting through to her. But it was still up in the air whether or not she would agree; their very lives had been in peril after all- worrying their family paled in comparison to the idea that it could possibly happen again.

If it came down to it, he may have to take more drastic measures to ensure her silence; such as threatening her.

But… His stomach rolled. For some reason, he wasn't all that comfortable with the idea anymore. It would be better if it didn't come to that. Easier.

Eventually she looked up. Blue met silver, and an elder brother frowned heavily.

* * *

Taiyang crouched down and fit his hands under his daughters arms, easily lifting her light frame free of her seat and out of the stationary car. His wife was right beside him, stooping down to wipe a strand a drool and matted down hair out of the little girls face.

"Welcome to the land of the living, Yang."

"...Whuzzat?"

Summer giggled, nudging the girl forward even as she stared blearily up at them. "We're home. You slept the whole way back, lazyhead."

"Oh…" Yang still didn't look all there. It wasn't all too surprising, she had spent almost the whole day on her feet after all. "What about my weapon?"

The patriarch placed a guiding hand on the tiny girl's back so she didn't end up tipping over into the rosebushes, "Your mom has it. She'll take good care of it until you learn how to use it." Probably spend the next two hours polishing it too.

He couldn't exactly let her have it when she was prone to rough play with her brother. Until he was certain Yang wouldn't accidentally break Yin's ribs with a playful jab, he would hold onto it.

The three trekked across the stones imbedded in the dirt leading up to their front door, the particularly thick snow and frigid air making them huddle together closer. Their little outing had taken much longer than any of them anticipated, and night had already fallen.

"Come on. I'm sure you're dying to surprise Yin and Ruby with your weapon."

Clearing the last step up to the quaint wooden door, Taiyang moved to open it only to pause abruptly. His hand hovered over the knob as he frowned, a mote of hesitation worming into his heart.

Ruby and Yin… The two weren't exactly close… and that was being generous. His hope was that the time alone would at least bring them closer, perhaps help them work out their differences just like he had with his own team.

Some overly paranoid part of his brain half-expected to walk in and find the two half-dead, likely after getting into a deadly brawl over something unimportant. Was it nonsensical? Yes. But kids _were_ nonsensical. So he felt he could be forgiven for the hiccup of trepidation in him.

He chuckled to himself on the doorstep, earning a few incredulous looks from the most important girls in his life. Yeah right… Even if he thought the two actually disliked each other enough to reach that point, he knew Yin. His son was as level headed as they came. He wouldn't let it escalate that far.

The door groaned open, meeting resistance that it never had before. Dust spilled from the seams in the wood, making Taiyang cough as the entrance opened up completely.

The family stood stock still.

Burn marks, hole-riddled furniture, crushed fixtures and scattered flecks of trash… And standing side-by-side in the middle of it all were Yin and Ruby.

Ruby fidgeted on the spot, her thumbs twiddling as she stared up at them with an extremely shy smile. Her dress had a few streaks of ash here and there that flecked off as she shifted from one foot to the other.

Yin stood just beside her, his hands crossed resolutely behind his back as he tried to not meet his father's gaze. If the state of the room made Taiyang stop cold, then the sight of his son made his heart stop completely. On his cheek just beneath his eye he had a sloppy bandage soaked fully in still wet blood. His thigh and shoulder were bandaged just the same, and his clothes had splatters of the liquid staining it.

For a moment, they all just stood silently. The returned family members appalled at what they were witnessing.

Eventually, Yin broke the silence with a weak smile. "Hey, dad..."

* * *

Yin winced as Summer pressed a cotton ball soaked in alcohol against the fairly ugly gash in his cheek, the intense burning pain coming from the area making him scrunch his face up- but otherwise he didn't move, and allowed her to continue dabbing away the dry blood. As she worked her limited medical knowledge, Summer rubbed a hand gently against Yin's aching back while shooting him a pitying look.

The family sat around in the kitchen, one of the few places completely untouched by the carnage of that morning. The two younger sisters of the family sat awkwardly in the background, giving space to their mother as she tended to her son. Taiyang himself hung back and looked at the house in amazement, obviously trying to construct in his head just what could cause such destruction.

Yang was alive with energy and curiosity, grilling Ruby for answers to how the _heck_ the house ended up like this. Yang's childish interest caught the eye of Taiyang and Yin's ear, who tensed nearly imperceptibly.

For her part, Ruby only gave short non-answers. She couldn't lie to save her life, and she definitely couldn't ignore the questions, but she could play stupid pretty convincingly; especially in the eyes of an already tired and confused Yang.

The sheer absurdity of the entire situation was playing to Yin and Ruby's favor. Nobody in their family expected to come home to find the place in the state it was in. Paying thanks to his own received injuries, they would be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and not scrutinize their answers too closely.

Very few things could spear through Yin's cheek, leg, _and_ turn his back into the bruised mess of welts that it was. Their own worry and confusion helped him greatly. He could spin this story however he wanted if he played his cards right. Of course, that didn't make the task of lying straight to his parents faces any less daunting.

"This is a pretty bad cut, Yin. I wish you would have called for us… This might end up scarring over for good." Her words were gentle yet chastising. She didn't show it, yet, but it was obvious she was angered that one of her kids had gotten hurt this much while she had been away.

He couldn't meet her gaze. Calling them home would have defeated the entire purpose of lying. Having to deal with the pain was a small price to pay for the sake of his plan.

Though he couldn't deny the flutter of warmth that settled in his stomach. It felt… nice to feel her worry.

As Summer peeled back the stained cotton ball and picked up a roll of gauze, Taiyang stepped forward. He grabbed the head of a chair and pulled it out so he could sit directly in front of his son. Even sitting down, the man towered over him and made his heart beat just a little faster. Tayiang's face was stern, but there were the unmistakable line of concern keeping it from being too intimidating.

That didn't stop him from shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"You feeling okay Yin?"

Yin nodded, lightly touching the now professionally wrapped wound in his leg. "Yeah. I'm feeling fine. A little sore, I guess, but fine."

He had felt worse before, after all.

"Good. " Tai sighed, a small weight lifting from his shoulders, "Okay. Yin, just what the hell happened while your mother and I were gone?"

There it was. Yin steeled himself internally, preparing himself for what he was about to do. He could feel Ruby's eyes on the back of his head. The entire family's eyes were trained on him, awaiting his answer with bated breath. He only had one shot- one story to tell, and it had to be perfect.

So he played to the strength of anyone in his age group.

"I don't know."

Ignorance.

Yin pressed a hand against his head, making a show of creasing his soft features in thought as he met his dad's eyes. "Ruby and I were just hanging out in the living room a little after sunset when things just started… _exploding_."

"...Exploding?" Taiyang asked slowly. Sure, the house _looked_ like it had been blown up a few times, but he didn't really think it was actually something like that. Off to the side Yang gave a shout of ' _whooaa!'_ and Summer gasped in shock.

Yin nodded, or would have if Summer still wasn't wrapping his cheek up. "Yes. I… I was going to get a book while Ruby was eating in the kitchen when the fire place blew up. It caught me by surprise, and I fell onto the table."

Summer gave another gasp and her hands tightened defensively on his shoulder, a good sign to be sure. "I guess that explains the table… and your poor back."

Taiyang cupped a hand under his chin in thought, frowning, "The fireplace… Yin, did you turn the fireplace on?"

"Yes." He admitted, "I… I thought I did it just like how you showed me…" His father's eyes softened at the weak mutter.

Yin sighed internally, so far so good.

Lying wasn't about spinning some convoluted tale. After all, the more complicated a lie the harder it was to keep. Instead, for him lying was like playing a game of 'hangman' backwards. To lie to his parents, he pretended that he didn't know the answers at all. Instead, he provided sparse loosely connected facts while omitting certain things. In doing so, he provided a faintly clear picture with holes; holes that they would fill in on their own.

He didn't provide them with the answers. Instead, he slowly led them toward the conclusion he wanted them to come to.

Taiyang looked over to Summer, who hummed pensively. "The fireplace… You don't think it was…?"

"The fire dust? Maybe. I've never heard of fire dust doing this… especially such low grade concentrations of it, but it's certainly possible."

"Huh? You mean those dust crystals blew the house up?" Yang asked with wide eyes, the revelation came as a shock to her. Ruby as well had an amazed expression, though that was likely more due to her wonderment at how easily Yin just lied.

"Maybe. What else happened Yin?"

"Well… After the fire place blew up, I was going to take Ruby up to her room so we could lock ourselves in there. But I heard another explosion before we could get in. It… didn't sound good."

"The water heater…" Summer mused, thinking back to the steaming wreck they found in the kid's closet. She sent Taiyang a questioning look.

Tai could only nod gravely, "Dust based…"

Oh thank oum. Yin allowed himself a weak sigh of relief. He had no idea whether the water heater was electric or dust powered. If it was electric then he could have found himself in a very unfavorable position.

Yin continued on, pretending not to hear their musings. "After that, I decided to wait outside on the porch with Ruby until it was safe. I heard a couple more explosions and we waited for a while before we went back inside."

He finished his recount with a sigh. Looking at the scattered faces of his family warily. Taiyang and Summer were deep in thought as they mulled over his story, but there wasn't any sign of doubt or scepticism in their eyes as far as he could tell. Yang was clearly intrigued by the tale, but seemed more interested in the fact that Yin had nearly been blown up than the cause itself.

She had her strong gaze trained on him the entire time he told his tale. A touch of worry and… something else, burning in those eyes. Concern, and above all else- protectiveness.

A touch of unease settled over him as he caught her look. He may have to address that at some point before it got out of hand.

Ruby also watched him. Her face a mask of pure amazement.

' _He… He made that look so easy! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would believe him too! Yin is so smart…'_ While his actions had hardly been praiseworthy just now, they still left an impression on Ruby.

Yin blinked and watched as Taiyang stood up and passed by him. The young man craned his neck around to follow his father's movements, the man moving over toward the pantry. He swung the door open and pulled out a bag from the bottom of the small room and presented it for the family to see.

The plastic bag still had a couple dull amber crystals rolling around in it. The family looked at the bag apprehensively, the fact that these seemingly harmless rocks had caused so much damage made Yang and Summer's heads spin.

"They're all still here."

"Looks like they only blow up when activated then." Summer surmised, before snatching up the bag and tossing it straight out the kitchen window. "I don't even want to imagine the damage if all the dust had blown up…"

Yin sighed again. Finding another few red dust crystals to refill the bag had not been easy, but it was worth it to keep up the illusion.

"It must have been scary for you two. I'm glad that you're both okay." Taiyang muttered in relief. This whole thing was a mess, and he dreaded to even think of the work needed to fix that fireplace. But as long as those two were alive and well, he would be fine.

"Yep!' Ruby chirped, pleased that the situation was finally over. "Yin kept me safe the whole time!"

Taiyang could only blink, "...Did he now?"

Yin rolled his eyes but didn't bother agreeing or disagreeing. Sure, he didn't like Ruby, but he wasn't just going to let her get blown up when he could do something about. Especially when his dad had already made him promise to keep her safe.

He was fine with lying when it benefited him, but he preferred not to break promises if he could help it.

Summer smiled despite the annoyed look from her son. "Thank you for keeping her safe, Yin. You were really brave today." Her hand gently rubbed at his back and his expression immediately melted. His eyes shut and all tension left his shoulders as he purred contentedly at the touch.

Taiyang gave another look around the house. "I guess I'll call a few people to fix this place up tomorrow. But we'll have to make do for tonight. Meaning…" He gave a pointed look at Yang, "No showers until we fix up the water heater."

"Aww man…"

Summer gave her own two cents, "Don't go near the fireplace either. It should be safe now, but we need to have a look at it in the morning." She glanced back over to her husband, "I'll call Qrow, see if he knows anything about it."

"Good idea hon. But… It's been a long day. I'm sure the kids just want to sleep now." Yang had been dead on her feet before this whole fiasco had energized her, but now she was beginning to rub tiredly at her eyes again. Yin especially looked like he was about to pass out at any moment from the hypnotic lull of Summer's fingers on his back; he was swaying in his seat with a serene look.

Yin only looked slightly disappointed as Summer moved away to pick Yang up and take Ruby's hand.

* * *

Yin laced his fingers and raised his hands high above his head, stretching his weary bones out with a hum of contentment. His back bruises flared at the action, but it was easily ignored thanks to a couple swallowed painkillers. Next he crossed an arm over his chest, his other arm crossing over that one as he applied pressure. Pleasurable pops rang out as all his accumulated stress began to fade away.

Things had gone better than he expected. The story was that for some reason all the active dust in the house had suddenly exploded, wrecking the place and nearly killing him. It was far from a perfect explanation and opened up even more questions, but any suspicion on him or Ruby was gone now.

With that, the secret of **Sheer Heart Attack** would remain just that, a secret.

Though this page in his life was far from over. This tank of his was still a puzzle he needed to unravel, and for once he had no idea where to even begin. Asking anybody was out of the question, but maybe there would be a book that could shed a little light on it? It was certainly worth a try.

*Thump *

Something soft crashed into the back of his head, making him stumble and blink in shock. Turning he found Yang lounging on his bed, staring at him with annoyance. A pillow thumped to the floor at his feet and Yin narrowed his eyes.

"Jeez… How long are you going to take? I wanna sleep already!"

"You're pretty bossy for someone who's sleeping in my bed… Again" Yin muttered in annoyance, already feeling exasperated at this arrangement.

Unfortunately, while his water heater plan did end up saving their lives, it had made the girls bedroom uninhabitable. They couldn't sleep in a room filled with an inch of water after all. So they would have to shack up elsewhere tonight. As soon as she heard that, Yang dashed into his room- not even giving him a chance to argue her decision.

"Oh stop complaining. You should be happy that your super strong sister is here to keep you safe from 'exploding dust'." She teased him.

"Of course I am, can't you tell how happy I am?" Yin asked in monotone, giving her a deadpan look as well that easily made her giggle. "Speaking of which… How did your day go?"

"Hmm?"

He wasn't too surprised that his scatterbrained sister forgot the entire reason she was gone all day. It was just part of her charm. "The shopping trip. Did you decide on a weapon?"

"Ohh! Yeah it went great!" Yang instantly brightened, basically vibrating with energy despite her drowsiness. "I took your advice and got a super cool weapon!"

"Is that so?" A small flicker of satisfaction settled in his stomach. Yang rarely ever took his advice on any matter, so it was always a nice surprise when she did and thanked him for it.

"So what did you decide on?"

"...Not telling!"

"Huh?" Yin stopped short. "What? What do you mean 'not telling'?"

Yang grinned devilishly, "Mom has it right now, so I can't show it to you! Plus, I want it to be a surprise!"

"A surprise?"

"That's right!" She affirmed, then yawned loudly. "- _Ish_ gonna blow your socks off when you see it."

Yin sent her an unnamused look. Doubtful. Sure, he was interested in what she decided on, but he wasn't exactly dying to find out. It didn't really make any difference to him what she chose, and he certainly wouldn't lose any sleep if she felt some sort of vindication in withholding it from him for another couple hours.

He sighed good-naturedly. Yang could be so childish. Only mere seconds separated their age, but the difference in maturity was clear as day.

...

"...Not even a hint?"

She stuck her tongue out at him before falling back onto his bed spread-eagle, taking up as much space as possible. Yin grumbled and went to kick his slippers away under the bed and join her.

_*Creak…*_

He and Yang blinked, both looking up and watching as his bedroom door creaked open. Stepping through the opened slat, a familiar head of gradient hair stepped into his bedspace. Ruby looked around shyly, only hesitating for a moment at their combined stare before closing the door behind her.

"Rubes!" Yang immediately leapt from his bed, sending the comforter flying as she enveloped the shocked girl in a choking hug. The smaller girl yelped and struggled for a moment even as she giggled. Yang was so infatuated with her younger sister that she couldn't help but squeeze the life out of her every time she saw her.

Yin scowled as he watched the scene from a distance. But he didn't snap, he had expected this.

To buy her silence on the Sheer Heart Attack matter, he had struck a deal with Ruby. She agreed not to tell their parents on one condition: he was no longer allowed to lock his bedroom door.

Meaning that at any time Ruby or Yang could barge into his room as they pleased. Achieving peace and solitude was all but impossible now. It was a hefty price to pay to keep his secret, but one he paid nonetheless.

Ruby would keep up her end of the deal, and he would keep his door wide open. At the time he wondered what she had to gain from this arrangement, but now it was clear as day.

"So, Rubes. What brings you around these parts?"

"I erm… I was wondering if I could stay here tonight…?"

Yin crossed his arms and looked away, sending her a side-eyed glare. Of course…

Yang seemed surprised by the question, as if she hadn't even considered the idea of spending the night with her two favorite siblings. It sounded nice. Really nice. "What?! Of course you…"

She paused, as if only just realizing that this wasn't her room. Yin would have given her hell if she decided this on her own without even giving him a chance to say anything. He was uptight like that, always getting all grouchy when she did fun things.

Still, despite always being so distant or uptight he was always considerate of her feelings… even when he really didn't have to be. The least she could do is consider his feelings in return.

Besides, what kind of moron wouldn't want their super cute sister to sleep over?! It was basically a forgone conclusion!

"...Yin!" That didn't mean she couldn't stack the odds with a nice helping of puppy-dogs eyes.

"..." He looked away, brushing off her look as he furrowed his brow.

He had to admit, he had some amount of grudging respect for Ruby now. The girl was strong willed in the face of danger, could follow orders, and was smart enough to keep up with him; not an easy feat by any means. After their brush with death and the secret they now shared between each other, it was inevitable that they would grow closer.

But it didn't change how he felt. Even now, hatred welled up in his throat when he looked at her. What happened today didn't change anything; he still hated his younger sibling with a passion. Sure, he respected her bravery and owed her in more than one way, but that alone wasn't enough to simply banish the tainted emotions swirling in his heart.

Suffice to say, the idea of sharing his bed with her was sickening to him.

However… This was just the price he had to pay. Whether he liked it or not, his room was open territory now. He owed Ruby. If she wanted to spend the night here, then he would just have to swallow his pride and allow it.

"...Very well. You can stay here, Ruby."

Ruby's shock at his agreement was quickly overshadowed by her glee. What happened next was a blur, as a yellow and red meteor crash landed into his bed and wrinkled the already abused sheets. The two young girls wrestled for comfortable spots as Yin merely gave a withering sigh, shut the light off, and slipped into the bed, his two younger siblings dragging him right into the middle of the too small bed.

What a pain…

* * *

"So… What are you thinking?"

Taiyang sighed as he crouched in front of the fireplace, staring at the ruined wall tiredly. "I'm thinking that my vase is missing and probably destroyed. What a nightmare…"

Summer giggled despite herself, "That vase was ugly anyway, Tai."

"Well _I_ thought it was neat!"

"Anyway," She continued, "I meant, what do you think about all this? What do you want to do?"

That was the question wasn't it? As it stood, there was really only one thing to do. He couldn't let something like this happen again, and with Yang finally owning a weapon of her own it was probably about time anyway.

"Tai…" Summer prodded, seeing the confliction on his face. "Yin nearly died today. We cant put it off any longer."

"I know… I'll awaken their aura tomorrow morning. It's time anyway."

Aura. Humanity's life force. There were many pervading theories on the source and nature of aura, the shield that protected them. Some believed it to be a gift from the gods themselves, others a natural adapted weapon in the face of the grimm threat.

Either way, Aura came surging up from the soul. It was the spirit itself made manifest; a physical envelope that surrounded a person and protected them from harm. Any incoming threats that normally could seriously wound would instead simply bounce away, or lose most of its force on the Aura barrier. Since time immemorial, Hunter's used their Aura as their chief protector against the unnatural might of grimm; the soul-born tool leveling the playing field between human and monster.

Aura could also be used for many different offensive purposes, but primarily it stood to protect a person. A shield with no handles, if you will. Constantly present and flexible to the whims of whoever holds it.

Something like that would keep his kid's safe in the event that he couldn't be there to protect them. So why didn't they have it yet? It wasn't restricted by age… Hell, even an animal could wield Aura if their souls were strong enough.

"Don't you think it's still too early?"

Summer smiled weakly, "No, I don't think so. Our kid's arent stupid Tai. They're smart enough to handle themselves. And you know Yin- do you really think he would change at all? I think he's more than ready to handle it."

The biggest problem with awakening Aura at a young age was that it fostered bad habits. It created a dangerous reliance. Kids with aura are far more likely to do dangerous things or act recklessly when they know they have a shield present at all times to nullify consequences.

It might sound cruel, but kids have to experience consequences in order for them to grow. They have to burn themselves on the stove so they can learn not to touch hot things. They have to trip down hills so they can learn to not rush things. They have to get bit by spiders or snakes so they can learn what creatures are dangerous.

But Aura deprives them of those experiences, and they would just keep making those same mistakes without ever paying for them.

It may sound inconsequential, but that sort of mindset in the real world could be fatal.

This wasn't a decision he could make without thinking. "Even so…"

"Yin nearly died, Tai." She reminded him firmly, making him wince. "We can't let that happen again. We just have to trust in them and hope for the best."

Taiyang watched her pretty face closely before sighing, smiling despite himself, "You're right… As usual. I'll do it tomorrow."

"See? Was that so hard? You should just agree with me more often."

A scoff, "You're not always a font of wisdom dear. If I remember correctly, I was the one who stopped you from weaponizing Yin's baby stroller."

Summer pouted, looking away. "I still think it was a good idea… Mowing down grimm while taking Ruby out for some fresh air? Genius!"

Taiyang guffawed as he stepped past her, continuing to survey the damage. With the kid's asleep, they were free to get a closer look at the extent of the destruction, and each new discovery made him marvel.

He had only ever seen high-grade dust explode with such potency before; the kind that never showed up on shelves and had to reserve a week in advance just to get an ounce of it. Even with most of the burn marks and broken furniture removed, he could still recreate a pretty accurate picture of just what the explosions must have looked like.

"Wait a minute…"

Taiyang slowly stepped to the wall and reached up, fitting his hands around the wall clock there and gently pulling it down. Dust and ash scattered away with the movement, staining his hands as he wiped the glass face clean with a swipe. The cracked clock stared back at him, making his mind race.

"Tai whats up?"

"This clock… Its broken…"

"Huh?" Summer muttered before stepping up and yelping in shock, "Aw man! That was a gift from Glynda! I loved that clock!"

The clock was frozen. Whatever broke its face must have ruined the internal workings of it as well. The hand's stood motionless, the smaller pointing at the 8, and the longer pointing at the 4. 8:20.

"Honey was this clock working before we left?" Taiyang asked, not looking away from his reflection in the glass.

"Hmm? I think so… I usually use it before I head out. Mostly just as routine now." Ever since becoming a mother, having a schedule became a part of life. Even more so than it had when she was part of her team.

"Then it must have broken after we left and before we got back.

Summer tilted her head, "So it got broken in the explosions? Well, I guess it's not surprising…"

"No. It is surprising." Taiyang insisted, presenting the clock. "Don't you recall? Yin told us that the fireplace exploded after sun-down."

"Uh… What are you getting at?" Summer was lost, not quite understanding what he was trying to show her.

"The clock. Something broke it, so it froze in place. But the clock's hands say 8:20… Which isn't even close to sun-down. An explosion definitely broke it, but it couldn't have possibly been broken after sun-down. It was broken at exactly 8:20 in the morning."

It couldn't have been broken at 8:20 in the night because they were _home_ by that time. They surely would have noticed if another explosion happened. The only logical answer was that the first explosion didn't happen after sun-down, but rather at 8:20. Much earlier than Yin had told them.

That must have dawned on Summer, because her face suddenly paled. "That-! Wh-What does this mean?"

"I'm… Not sure."

Obviously, it meant that Yin had lied to him, at least partially. Sure, things had gone mostly as he described, down to himself being so gravely injured. But then why lie about the time? He knew his son, misremembering the time wasn't like him at all. It must have been purposeful.

He was hiding something. But what?

He should look into it. If there was more to the story then it was important that he hear it all. Perhaps he could even learn the true cause of the current state of their home, or at least a reason for why the hell Yin would lie to him.

Tai should have been burning with righteous indignation, but whatever ember of such emotion there could have been was promptly snuffed out as he considered the bigger picture. The truth of the matter was that Yin had lied to him, whether out of malice or not was up for debate.

But the truth of the matter was that he had also protected Ruby in the end. Yin didn't hurt himself on purpose, something had happened while they were gone to put him in such a state. And when it did happen, he kept Ruby safe, just as he promised. No lie could change that fact.

He knew that the two weren't best friends, so that meant a lot to him. It truly did warm his heart.

For that… he could overlook the lie. He was still curious, of course, but he had to trust that his son had good intentions for not telling the truth. As thanks for protecting his daughter, he would look the other way just this once.

"I'm not gonna forget it, though..." With that, he returned the clock to its place on the wall.

A hand reached up and snagged his ear, forcing Taiyang to yelp in agony as he was dragged frightfully off balance. The married man was brutally pulled to stare face to face with a thoroughly annoyed Summer Rose.

"Don't you ignore me, Tai!"

* * *

As a young man tried fruitlessly to drift to sleep in a bed cramped beyond capacity with two other bodies, one snoring directly against his throat and the other gripping his arm like a lifeline, the chilly outdoor air remained silent. The wintry land blanketed in the light of the shattered moon was truly a sight to behold, acres of white land stretching out for miles to other homes scattered about.

Up high above, something flashed in the night sky. A gleam of light, blinking into existence in the canopy of space above. It blazed across the expanse for a moment before once again disappearing; leaving only fleeting space-dust, and a premonition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I absolutely HATED writing this chapter. Im all for feel-good family scenes, but this time around I couldnt help but feel that I barely advanced the plot at all. Even still, not having this chapter would do more harm than good- so I made sure to try my hardest regardless. Dont be surprised if I end up coming back to this chapter to try and edit it somewhat in the future though.
> 
> Anyway, like I promised Im not going to let this story drop so soon. I still have an unclear end goal, but I have at least 2 arcs that are the same quality as chapter 4 that I want to get to. Until those are written im going to keep on chugging by.
> 
> Speaking of which, going forward I should make it clear that the timeline is a little different than canon. For the sake of fitting all my ideas in, just assume that most major events have been pushed forward in time just a little bit. At this time the characters are a year or two older than they might normally be around now.
> 
> Little side tidbit, for this chapter I liked to imagine Kira having some of the same poses and stances as Togami from Danganronpa. Really helped me get in the mind of him being a little callous.


	6. Chapter 6

Standing resolutely in the wide circle of grass cleared of snow, Yang squared her shoulders, widened her stance, and took a deep calming breath of the sharp morning air; letting it fill her lungs and energize her anxious muscles. She held the cold air in her chest, feeling it with every inch of her body as she focused on her senses. With her eyes tightly shut she could feel the faint shift of her long golden locks drifting along the smooth skin of her exposed shoulders. She felt the movement of the wind spreading across her face and shaking the boughs of barren branches surrounding the little clearing in their backyard.

With explosive force, she exhaled sharply, her eyes shot open as she stepped forward hard and thrust her fist out into the open air, her other moving to chamber at her hip. Even though it only struck air, the force behind the punch was palpable and the speed contained within would put most kids her age to shame.

Pulling her fist back with just as much speed, the young girl gave a pivot forward before bringing his other fist to bear; this time, opening up her grip so that her fingers were clawed downward like a bear's. Whipping that clawed hand upward, she brought it crashing down into the space in front of her again, and once she completed that full devastating swing, she redirected it and brought it whirling back out as if she were gouging out the air.

Giving a few more swings with the strange partially open-palmed array of strikes, the girl capped off the show by thrusting both her hand forward as if to deal a final punishing blow. She held her position, her face stern as she concentrated. Her clawed hands hovered in the open air, her palms facing forward as she let out a final breath of exertion.

"You're slowing down, Yang." The young girl blinked and glanced over, still holding her position. She stared questioningly at the marginally older boy who was seated cross-legged in his own cleared circle in the grass. Yin scratched lazily at the bandage on his face as he met her stare. "Haven't you woken up yet? This should be a piece of cake for you by now."

The girl shattered any illusion of discipline when she broke out into a sheepish grin, "Ahah… I kinda underestimated just how heavy these things are… Its hard to get used to them."

Yang flexed her hands for emphasis. Usually she was capable of much faster and more accurate blows during her shadow sparring, but this time around wasn't so easy. The reason was made plainly obvious by the silvery metal spread over her knuckles, palm, and part of her wrists.

The young girls hands were covered by a sturdy looking pair of silver gauntlets, each one leaving her fingers and palms open while covering the rest of her hands.

Yin examined her as she made a couple more abrupt yet fluid maneuvers. He had to admit, the weapons were a good fit. Weighty enough to supplement her strength, while also not restraining enough to hinder her movements. A pair of gauntlets were pretty much the perfect weapon for her.

"Ugh…" Yin sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. If only it wasn't for _that_ …

Giving one last arcing slice, the girl gave a whoop and pumped her fist. "Alright! I'm all warmed up now! Toss em here, Yin!"

The first twin gave another withering sigh before tossing what he had in his hand toward the girl. Swiftly snatching it up, the girl grinned as she watched two pure white dust crystals lazily roll across her palm. She held them up close and examined them, positively shaking with excitement the whole time.

"Alright uh… How do I put it in?"

Yin reached behind him and pulled up a small booklet his mother had given him this morning before sending he and his sister out here. On the front cover was a replicated drawing of the very gauntlets Yang was wearing.

He perused the pages for a moment with a critical eye before speaking up, "Back of the wrists. Should be a compartment you can lock them into."

Yang quickly found the cylindrical latches exactly where he said they would be. Opening them up, the girl tossed a single crystal into each gauntlet before sealing them once again. She gave a quick shake of her hands to make sure they were locked snugly in place, before smirking.

Yin huffed he turned another page. Yes they were good weapons, but he should have expected his sister would go a bit overboard with her weapon choice. There was absolutely no reason that she needed a weapon that integrated dust into it. Not at her level. And not with her track record.

"You can be smart when you want to. But you have no common sense…"

"Huh?" Yang glanced over to him, "Did you say something?"

"Its nothing," he dismissed her easily. "More importantly, are you sure it's a good idea to be using dust so soon?"

"Its fine, it's fine! Dad said as long as we don't use fire dust it shouldn't be a problem!"

After last night, it was a given that Taiyang had disposed of all the fire dust in the house. For the sake of their safety, they would have to forgo using that kind of dust until he was absolutely certain of it. Normally, for a weapon like Yang's they would be using fire dust to get the hang of its power... But for now they would have to make do with ice.

Ice dust was still dangerous in its own right, of course, but it wasn't nearly as bad as fire dust could be.

Giving one last glance over her weapons, Yang gestured toward Yin in a flippant way. "Anyway! Come on, how do I activate it?"

Yin scowled at her and turned back to the book. As he flipped through the pages, a devious smirk pulled at his mouth as he glanced up at his sister darkly.

"Clench your fist and then flick your wrist back."

Yang did so, and as soon as the action was completed the compartment on the back of her wrist shot open, the dust crystal rocketing out of the space like a missile. The young girl didn't even have a chance to flinch before it slammed directly into her forehead and ricocheted off like a pinball.

Immediately Yang crouched down with a yelp, her hands flying to cover the red welt on her forehead as she hissed in pain. The girl glared up at her older brother with tears in her eyes, clear betrayal swimming in those lilac pools.

"W-what the heck?! What was that for?!"

Yin looked back down to the book, "Hm… Oh! I must have skipped a line or two. That's how you remove the dust, not activate it."

"No duh!" Yang roared as she shot back to her feet, crystal firmly in hand as she fought the urge to chuck it at him. "Get it right, idiot!"

He only rolled his eyes and adjusted his seated position, "Yeah yeah… Alright, it says here that you should pound your knuckles together to activate it. Or slam the back of your hand into something, if you want." Probably just in situations where one of her hands couldn't be used, he imagined.

Yang glared at him for a moment longer before doing as he said and pounding her knuckles together sharply, the metal crashing into one another with a sharp ring. The action had an immediate and profound effect; when the girl pulled her hands back she could only marvel at the faint blue glow and hum that her gauntlets now gave off.

Dust could be activated in a variety of ways, but for the impatient and aspiring hunters and huntresses in the world force was the most reliable means. Just a sharp strike or hit to a refined dust crystal could activate it, releasing its elemental properties like a leaky faucet. Most likely this was due to the volatile nature of dust crystals, but very rarely do any dust accidents ever cause meaningful trouble because of this.

And this only applied to _refined_ dust. With the main means of collecting dust being mining, it would be next to impossible to harvest large quantities of it if it blew up every time you took a pickaxe to a vein of the stuff. Something about the refinery process turned the naturally stable material into something entirely different.

There was probably more to it than that, but Yin really didn't care enough to learn more about it. It did its job and it was fairly safe, that was all he needed to know.

Regardless, with the dust activated the true strength of Yang's new weapons began to make itself known. Particularly the frigid white mist that began to coalesce around her hand like a veil, bending to the slight twitches of her fingers. It was almost ethereal in appearance, like a ghostly shawl.

Slowly testing the new fairly pleasant feeling of the frosty mist, Yang set about throwing a couple more slicing strikes. Each punch was accompanied by a trail of ethereal ice that tracked her every move and hovered beautifully in midair.

Yin had to admit, it was a sight to see. The combination of Yang's ferocious fighting style and the majestic dust run-off was unlike anything else he had witnessed. He still wasn't exactly sold on her weapon choice, but he could definitely see why she was so taken with them.

"Yin! Rubes! Check it out! Isn't this awesome?!" Yang punctuated her excited squeal with a showy somersault that sent flecks of ice scattering in all directions.

"Go Yang!" Ruby cheered, waving a couple sticks in the air behind her unamused brother. The boy of the hour himself said nothing. He had a lot of things he _wanted_ to say, not all of them nice, but seeing how exuberant Yang was made him change his mind.

The complexity of her weapons would definitely be a challenge for his sister, but if she managed to master them they could become a very formidable tool indeed. It wouldn't be an easy task of course, especially from the cursory glances he had given the manual in his hand. _Complicated_ didn't even begin to do it justice. But if anyone could do it it would be Yang.

Yang may be as stubborn and hard-headed as a brick, but she had an almost startlingly powerful ability to adapt. Though young, she seemed to pick up the skills their father taught them at an almost monstrous pace. And even her physical strength was above and beyond what it should have been- and only continued to grow with every day.

In terms of pure strength and dexterity, Yang outclassed him by miles. If she just got a handle on her temper and impatience she could maybe stand a chance against adults.

Though, not their parents. Monstrous didn't even come close to describing their might.

"Okay…" Yang, sweating lightly from the exertion, stared at her gauntleted fists. "It's kinda chilly… I think my fingers are starting to get numb. Is this safe?"

"Don't worry, idiots can't catch colds."

"Har har, Yin. How do I get the dust out again?" Yang deadpanned.

He didn't even bother to look at the manual. "Fists out in front of you, roll your wrists outward."

As Yang focused on her task, Yin picked Ruby up and placed her in front of him. The girl didn't even register the movement, her innocent smile remaining the same as Yin handled her like a statue. Though she did tilt her head when he placed his palms over her ears.

Yang pointed her knuckles off into the forest, repeating her brothers instructions in her head before quickly twisting her wrists. The moment she did, a mechanical hiss erupted from the weapons and the steel knuckles protectors sprang open. With a sharp 'bang' the weapon flashed, the ice dust within being forcibly shattered and ejected from the weapon with stunning force. The shards of crystalline dust scattered in a wide cone, pelting the snow and shattering against the distant trees with clear 'pops'.

The young girl yelped in shock, the recoil of the blast sending her flying onto her back. Thanks to the braces along the weapon, she wasn't injured, but she was certainly dazed as she stared up at the blue sky with ringing ears.

Silence reigned. Ruby looked worried, Yang still stared blank-faced at the clouds, and Yin looked smug.

In an instant, Yang sat up, her face livid as she pointed accusingly at her older brother. "W-what the heck was that for?! Are you doing this on purpose?!"

"Oops~ my bad. I guess I read the manual wrong." Yin shrugged his shoulders as he moved his hands from Ruby's head. "Hmm… Maybe its because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I wonder why?"

"Wh-! Are you _still_ mad about that?!"

"Yes."

Having not only his least favorite person clinging to him like a sloth, but also his loud twin snoring directly against his throat, it was a miracle he had gotten _any_ sleep last night. He woke up just a little grouchy that morning and still hadn't quite let it go.

"Grr… Get over here and fight me, Yin!" Yang barked, rocketing to her feet and brandishing her gauntlets.

Before he could say anything, a different voice barged in. "While I understand how you feel Yang, your brother is still injured. You can't fight him."

Taiyang walked up to them, stepping up next to his livid daughter and ruffling her hair. The girl looked even more miffed, both at the way he messed up her hair and the fact that Yin was getting off scot free.

"Though, once he's all better that's another story."

Yin blinked, his smug countenance evaporating when he faced the now dangerously eager look on Yang's face. Looking up, he found his father smirking with thick dark rings around his eyes.

"Uh… Dad? You don't look so good…"

Taiyang smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Oh, don't worry about that, Yin. I just had a… long, night."

Yin gulped uneasily, not sure why he felt so guilty all of a sudden. But the strange gleam in his father's eyes disappeared quickly, replaced with that familiar warmth.

"Anyway, me and your mother got to talking. Since Yin got hurt, we think it's time that we finally unlocked your auras."

The three children blinked, the two girls girls dropping their jaws while Yin reeled back, stupefied. Of all the things he expected when Summer ushered them out of the house this morning, _this_ was the furthest thing from his mind.

Ruby cheered loudly, seizing Taiyang in a spear tackle that bowled him over on the spot. Yang still hadn't moved from her spot, but the ecstatic grin and the tremble of anticipation in her frame was hard to miss.

Yin looked thoughtful.

Aura… He knew about it. Roughly. Summer had described it thoroughly in the stories she told them, and the simple books he'd read had some descriptions of it too. He had to admit, the idea of a shield bubbling up from the soul was indeed an enticing possibility.

Most of all, it was humanity's greatest weapon. The great equalizer. Even a frail old man with aura would be stronger than a normal person. Proper training and skill could make anyone strong, but having aura elevates the strength of anyone onto a completely different plane.

Though, no matter how his siblings pestered their parents, they always refused to teach them how to use it. Now, his father was finally going to teach them the mythical power. Even he was giddy at the idea, even if he hid it easily.

However, his cautious nature flared up as he stared at the man.

"Are you sure? It still isn't too soon?"

Taiyang chuckled, "Relax, Yin. It's not dangerous or anything. We didn't unlock your auras because we wanted to make sure you were ready for it. I know you three are ready."

Well, if his father was so adamant, then who was he to complain?

"Finally! Oh, I am so pumped up now!" Yang roared aloud, fists outstretched to the heavens. "C'mon, c'mon! Let's do this!"

"Ease up, firecracker," Taiyang chuckled. "You don't need to do anything. Unlocking aura is actually pretty simple. Just stand still and I'll use my aura to pull yours out."

Yin scratched his bandage again, "What, like opening a dam?"

"Exactly."

Yang's vigor was stifled just a bit at that.

"Oh… I thought it would be something like meditating at the top of a mountain and not eating for a week, or something." She pantomimed pulling air into her chest, her cheeks bloating up momentarily. "Drinking in the 'energy of the universe' or whatever."

Taiyang rolled his eyes, "You've been watching too many movies, Yang." Yin agreed.

"You couldn't fast for one hour, let alone a week."

Yang pointed her gauntlets at him and made the 'dust release' gesture again. Luckily, they were empty, so nothing happened. But the intention was clear.

"Are you two gonna bicker all day or do you want your auras unlocked?"

"Sorry." "Let's do this already!"

Taiyang shook his head, even if he was grinning internally. Having such spunky kids really was worth all the trouble they caused now and then. "So, who wants to go first?"

"Me! Me!" Ruby bounced into sight, leaping right in front of their father with stars in her eyes.

"Then i'm next!" Yang pounded her chest, grinning widely. "My aura is gonna blow you away!"

"I can wait."

"You're such a buzzkill!" The younger twin roared right in Yin's face, even as he stuck a finger in his ear uncaringly.

The twins stepped away toward the perimeter of the cleared circle, leaving Taiyang and Ruby standing in the middle. The little girl looked a little uneasy at all the attention, but her overwhelming excitement was clear as a sunny day. Taiyang knelt before her, his big hand taking her shoulder while the other settled on her head.

"Now, stay still. It'll probably tingle a little bit, but it won't hurt."

Ruby nodded, and Taiyang's aura flared around him violently. It wasn't the first time Yin had seen it, but it still stole his breath away. Pure spiritual energy flowing across his limbs like a flame, coating his skin with power that seemed to excite the very air around him. Taiyang's hair began to stand ever so slightly as the aura continued to bloom.

Then, it flowed. The beautiful well of energy seeped into his arms, traveling down to Ruby where it arced across her skin and glowing prints. Ruby gasped. The feeling of being suffused with aura was an incredibly exhilarating feeling by itself, but deep down she could feel something climbing up from the very depths of her being.

The feeling grew and grew until, with an incredible feeling that she couldn't even come close to describing, it peaked.

Red energy erupted from her body, flowing across her limbs like water. Ruby stared at her hands in amazement, flexing her fingers this way and that to watch as it shimmered on her digits. The girl's newly awakened aura was especially brilliant, seeming to gleam as it thrummed around her.

Taiyang removed his hands, watching as his daughters aura beamed on its own strength before it dimmed, receding back into her. Even still, Ruby's amazed expression was present. She could still _feel_ it, her body felt leagues greater than she ever knew it could.

"Now I'm just like mom…" She marveled.

"Red suits you, Ruby." Taiyang caressed her hair. "I'm really proud of you."

If it was possible, Ruby beamed even brighter.

"Alright Yang, your turn."

As Ruby walked over to her brother who was trying not to look interested, Yang all but ran up to her father. The duo assumed the same position as before, Tai knelt before her with a hand on her shoulder and head. Like before, his aura flared to life as he focused on the task before him.

The physical soul energy stretched down to her, siphoning into her as Taiyang's very soul reached out to the buried strength in her. Much like before, where the aura went it left a bright trail in its wake.

...However, something was wrong. As he reached toward Yang's buried aura, Taiyang felt… resistance. The aura was certainly there, he could even grasp it and tug. However, when he pulled it felt as though her aura was actively resisting his goading. Like trying to pull on a chained animal, it pulled away from him.

Seconds passed. Taiyang upped the strength of his aura, exerting more will to try and forcibly bring the aura to the surface. Yang shivered a little at the influx of power but otherwise didn't react. Taiyang was visibly sweating, the exertion of trying to bring the resistant power under control more taxing than he was prepared for.

He frowned in confusion, before gritting his teeth and going all in. In an instant, all resistance faded. The power bloomed, visibly exploding from the small girl with so much force that it bent the grass beneath their feet.

Just like Ruby had, Yang was left floored by the intense feeling of pure power that filled her bones. The lilac energy was much starker and violent than Ruby's had been. It teemed with vivacity as it coated her body, almost pulsing.

"So cool…"

Taiyang wiped his sweaty forehead. "Jeez… That was way harder than it should have been. That must be one powerful aura you have there, Yang."

Yang looked shocked, but her amazement was clear. "For real?! I get a super cool aura?"

"Looks that way... It will still shatter like normal, of course, but I'm guessing you've got a lot more aura in you than most people do." Taiyang nodded appreciatively, proud of his daughter.

Yang rounded on her brother. "You hear that?! My aura is stronger than dad's!"

"That's not what I said!"

Yin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Good job, Yang."

Yang puffed her chest out, either not hearing or not caring about his sarcasm. The girl strutted past her exasperated father to stand beside her little sister. Both of them gushed over their auras to each other.

The eldest stepped up next and the two girls quieted down to watch with rapt attention. Taiyang nodded to him, and Yin stepped closer, his sharp blue eyes watching his father's every movement.

Unlocking people's auras… It was an interesting ability, and it no doubt had its uses. Would it be possible to replicate it? Theoretically, he could mimic his father's movements, but the concept itself eluded him for now. An interesting thought for another time.

Yin stared right at his father as his hand settled on his head. Then, after releasing a silent breath, he closed his eyes.

The process was the same as before. Taiyang's aura began to fill Yin's being as it searched for his dormant power. Taiyang was careful this time, as he drew nearer and nearer to where he could feel Yin's aura, he readied himself for the same kind of resistance Yang's had given him.

He was completely unprepared.

When he grasped Yin's aura, he immediately grunted. His eyes jolted open as his body seized ever so slightly. A resistance unlike any before stalled his progress. Unlike Yang's, where it felt like he had hit a wall, this time it actually felt like it was actively pulling away from him.

If unlocking Yang's aura was like trying to reign in a tiger, then Yin's was like trying to pull a ship anchor out of the ocean with nothing but arm strength.

He pulled and rallied. He surged forth with every ounce of aura he had to try and push that strength to the surface, but it wouldn't budge even an inch.

"W-what the… Are you resisting me, Yin?" Taiyang asked through gritted teeth.

Yin winked an eye open, honestly confused. He could feel the incredible power his father was exuding, but he couldn't really feel much on his own end. "No? Is something wrong?"

Taiyang only grunted and continued to exude his aura. Yang and Ruby watched from the sidelines, worry beginning to worm into their hearts at how long it was taking.

After a few more seconds, Taiyang gave up. His aura dimmed, pulling away as he openly panted from his effort. Yin looked at his hands a few times before looking up at him questioningly.

Taiyang wiped his sweat off, still a little out of breath. "Sorry, Yin… Your aura is just too…" He paused and mulled over his words. "Well, I don't know. But I can't unlock it."

Yin looked honestly surprised. "I don't have aura?"

"No," Taiyang shook his head in the negative. "You definitely do. I could feel it in there. I just can't pull it out."

"Yin doesn't have an aura?" Yang stepped up and asked. The look of pure worry she shot at her brother was uncharacteristic, and hurried Tai to console her.

"It's probably just beyond me to unlock it. I'll ask some of my friends about it and see if they can figure it out," He assured, patting her head comfortingly. "Don't worry, nothing is wrong with your brother."

"I'm not worried!" She defiantly stated, stamping a foot.

* * *

Apart from the anomaly that was Yin's aura, things were as calm as always that day. Yang and Ruby set about doing their normal training, only now they began to test all the new sensations and possibilities that their aura offered.

Yin assisted them. While he didn't have an aura of his own at the moment, he was still pretty knowledgeable on the matter thanks to some books. Ruby and Yang were utter novices, but their auras were already impressively strong for their age. Given time, they would surely manifest beyond the norm.

"It's too bad you didn't get your aura, Yin." Yang said to him, poking his side as they watched Ruby zip around the yard faster than she ever had before. "But if even dad cant unlock it, it must be really strong."

Not necessarily, but he wouldn't deny the possibility was fun to think of. "Maybe so."

"Jeez… You don't look down at all. Shouldn't you be at least a _little_ disappointed?"

"Why would I be?" Yin looked honestly confused, "I've gotten by just fine without aura so far. It would be nice to have, sure, but I don't need it."

Yang actually stopped to think about that, her face turning pensive. It was clear she was impressed, not quite having looked at it that way before.

Yin was like that to her. Usually he just said nonsense that she ignored or teased him for. But occasionally he would give a piece of advice or insight that she couldn't help but latch onto.

A flick to her forehead destroyed her concentration. Yang yelped and covered herself while glaring at her brother. Even with aura it still stung when he did that. Yin smirked at her.

"Tell dad I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."

That foreign feeling of unease once again filled her. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Despite his words, without an aura it was an undeniable fact that he was more fragile than she was. If something were to happen…

"I'll be fine, Yang. I'm not going far. Plus…"

He wouldn't be alone.

With that, Yin turned away and walked off into the small pathway leading into the treeline. Within moments, the bare trees and mounds of snow hid him from sight as he ventured away. Yang still looked uneasy, but she trusted Yin. She knew he was stronger than he acted.

Yin's trek carried him a rather impressive distance from his home and into a clearing. Yin scratched at his cheek as he looked around the place. While snow was still around and obscured him from sight for the most part, grass could be seen peeking up from the ground, and new leaves had begun to bloom on bushes.

The forest was silent, cool and comforting this early in the morning. There wasn't a soul around to see him.

"Okay then… Let's see how this works."

Yin shut his eyes and gently placed his palm over his chest. His heart pounded strong beneath his skin, his breath was sturdy and controlled, and a presence burned right beneath his fingertips.

" **Sheer Heart Attack!** "

Golden energy erupted from his left hand, fanning out in a beautiful mirage of crystalline beauty that transformed into the tank from the other day. The tank, **Sheer Heart Attack** clattered onto the snow at his feet.

"So it really wasn't a dream..."

Maybe the black bruises on his back were proof enough that yesterday really happened, but could you blame him for doubting?

Stooping down, he picked the strange weapon up. Just like before, it stared right back at him. Only, now its beady eyes were not nearly as intimidating as before. The sense of familiarity returned as he turned the unresponsive tank this way and that to examine it.

Setting it back down, he mulled over just what to do with it. Taking a step back and glancing around to make sure he was really alone, he began.

"Erm… detonate?"

It did nothing. He sort of expected that, but still, it was good to know that it wouldn't explode unless it was physically activated. He gave a couple more orders, this time only mentally as he was sure he didn't actually need to talk to the thing. While he had very little meaningful control over it, he could at least make it do simple movements and gestures like donuts.

Before he could run any more tests, **Sheer Heart Attack** instantly pivoted on the spot, its treads roaring as it spun itself toward the treeline. Without any fanfare, the tank blasted off from the spot, speeding off toward a hapless squirrel that had peeked out from the snowbank to search for food.

Yin didn't even have time to blink before it collided with the animal, a loud 'click' resounding as it detonated in a muted explosion that rattled the nearby trees. He immediately rushed over, wincing when he found his tank sitting atop a scorch mark. There was no trace of the squirrel.

"Not even a tuft of hair…"

He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it surely had its uses.

Getting an idea, he once again picked up **Sheer Heart Attack** and trekked deeper into the woods. It was only a minute before he found another animal rummaging around in the snow. A deer, chewing languidly at the brambles of a bush.

Setting the tank down in front of him, he focused. His weapon instantly zeroed in on the deer, but it didn't move an inch. Yin could actually feel himself mentally restraining it, keeping it from acting on its heat-seeking ability.

Taking a couple tentative steps backward, he kept his eyes solely affixed to the deer. One step, two… after four steps, the mental leash vanished. **Sheer Heart Attack** raced from the spot again, and Yin actually had to cover his face at the size of the explosion that billowed out.

"Looks like I can restrain it if it's within a yard of me… and that the size of the explosion depends on how hot the target is."

Once again, no trace of the deer. Impressive…

Opening up his jacket, Yin pulled out a small book that he had hidden in his pocket. It was mostly yellow in color, its title being "Aura for ***holes."

...He wasn't sure where he found it.

Sitting cross-legged in the dirt, he let **Sheer Heart Attack** run free, his focus on the book. None of the pages really mattered to him, but one section in particular stood out to him.

_Semblances._

An aura based ability that is completely unique to every single person. Often considered a representation of a person's character, no two semblances could be the same and the abilities associated with them could often be so incredibly astounding that they almost seemed impossible.

It certainly fit what he knew about his strange power. Semblances didn't require aura either, after all Ruby already could use her impossible speed long before Taiyang awakened her aura.

 **Sheer Heart Attack** was his semblance? While it made sense, he couldn't help but feel that he was missing something.

Well… It would work for now. He couldn't imagine what else it could be.

"I don't have a semblance of an idea."

…

"Right then," he stood, his cheeks burning red. "That should be enough for now."

With only a simple twitch of his mind, **Sheer Heart Attack** disintegrated back into the depths of his soul. One thing that made it hard to judge it as a semblance was the sheer level of control he had over it. From what the book said, it was common for Hunters to have to train and learn to use their semblances over many years. But Yin knew that he had absolute control and understanding of his.

Well, not control. Rather, it was more that he somehow knew exactly what its limits were.

It had been an hour or so by now. Staying around any longer would probably be a bad idea.

However, once he turned back toward where he came from, he paused. Frowning down at how the snow crunched beneath his boot, he couldn't help but raise a brow in confusion. Using his shoe, Yin swiped away a long strip of snow, revealing the ground beneath.

Dirt. No grass.

"A path…?"

This was the middle of the forest. Why would there be a path out here?

Only sparing a single glance back toward the direction of his home, Yin set off on the path, periodically clearing the snow to make sure he was following it. It took him deeper and deeper into the forest, beyond what he realized was probably the safe parts of his home. Yin's curiosity only grew the father he walked, until he began to reach out to his semblance anxiously.

When he climbed up a hill, he saw it. Through the thick copse of trees, he could just barely make out the silhouette of a building.

Was someone living out here? He didn't think so.

"It looks worn down. What is that…?"

Before he could step any closer, the snow crunched behind him. Yin's eyes shot wide open and he spun around fast, **Sheer Heart Attack** nearly manifesting from the shot of fear that went through him.

"You're kinda far from home, aren't you kid?"

However, the person before him was not a danger. The man who now held his shoulder was just as tall as his father. He wore a thick black cloak, fairly mysterious clothes, and had a scruffy look that made him look like a recluse.

"Qrow…?"

"What? No 'uncle' for me? You're breaking my heart, Yin."

Qrow Branwen. His father's brother. Yin's uncle was a man he knew well, he had visited often in the past years and his sisters were absolutely smitten with him. If Summer was their favorite storyteller, then Qrow was a close second. Yin himself didn't mind the man. He was kind, if a little crude-mouthed, and he often treated them well when he was around.

He certainly wasn't a good role model though, what with his drinking problem. Yin may not dislike him, but he would _never_ respect him.

"What are you doing here?"

Qrow scoffed, shaking his head exasperatedly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? This is a lot farther than your dad wants you to be. You know Grimm sometimes stalk this place, right?" Qrow admonished him lightly.

"I got lost." Yin lied easily, a gleam appearing in his eye for a moment as he saw something.

"Jeez… I thought you were more level headed than that, kid."

Qrow took his shoulder and spun him on the spot, aiming the young boy back toward where he knew his home was. "C'mon, I'll walk you back. Your sisters don't know I'm here yet, let's give em the shock of their life."

Yin nodded in acquiescence, but internally his expression was severe. Qrow thought that Yin didn't know what he was doing. But he knew.

No matter how kind or fun Qrow was when he visited, Yin could never bring himself to truly accept him. And that was because of his _secrets_. Yin knew that the man was hiding things from him. He lied in every other sentence, he directed them away from topics so smoothly it was almost impossible to tell, and Yin just _knew_ the man knew things he would never tell. And now, he was attempting to move Yin's attention away from the house deep in the woods.

' _You're hiding something, Qrow. I'll let you believe you have me fooled, but I will find out what it is.'_

Qrow laid a hand on the kid's back and began to lead him back home. Yin sent a single piercing look backward before moving on.

* * *

**Elsewhere…**

"Be careful with it, goddammit! If you drop that I'll split your heads open!"

A mighty metal crate groaned, the big hooks attached to it pulled ramrod taught as they cleared the behemoth of steel from the truck bed it laid in. It swung lazily in the air, the jump-suited men nearby hurrying to take hold of the handles on its sides and gently guide it into the cleared space in the middle of the factory.

With a mighty slam, the crane holding the crate finally lowered it to the ground. With a mechanical whine, the iron corded hooks released their tension, falling slack. When it touched down, dust and metal filings were flung into the air, the gathered workmen coughing and waving away the cloud as they stepped back.

With the arrival of the massive truck and crate, some of the men in the large foundry paused in their work to stare at the sight. They turned from their maintenance of large furnaces that churned out molten rods of steel, and the centrifuges that roared and rattled in their metal clasps. It was no odd sight to see new things being trafficked into the building, but nothing that would take such a large group to handle it so cautiously.

Murmurs rose up from the men. For some reason, they could not look away.

A man with ear-length white hair and a severe face strode up, a small smirk pulling at his lips as he stood before the thick container. His crimson, sleeveless outfit stood out starkly among the green and grey jumpsuits.

Three other men, similarly rough yet smartly dressed, joined his side, their attention fixed to the crate as well. The middle of the group was a dark-skinned man with a thick head of wild dark hair, reaching all the way to his shoulders. Another was a tiny, rat-faced man with a peculiar facial-hair style that made his shifty eyes stand out. The last was an impressively tall, and lanky man- his body so gangly and disproportioned that it was a miracle he could stand with his own strength.

Each of them wore a suit, making them stand out all the more amongst the factory workers.

"Incredible…" the white haired man breathed, briefly revealing his razor-sharp teeth.. "You've outdone yourselves, my friends."

The dark-skinned man beside him sighed, smoothing his hair out of his face. "It certainly wasn't easy getting it, Mister Black. Our men barely got it out of there before the place was swarming with Atlesian soldiers. I've never seen so many bullheads in one place..."

The tallest of the group, the bony skeleton, sighed. "If it wasn't for Baba's prophecy allowing us to get there before it was sighted, Atlas would have taken it long before we could."

"Hehe… I'm sure old ironsides is furious that we managed to steal something like this right from underneath his nose."

Black hadn't really believed in prophecies before this day, but there was no denying that the Old woman's foresight had given them this miracle of a chance. Having the ability to glean the future, even if only for a moment... He made a promise to himself to meet the mythical woman one day. Such a power was far safer in his hands than anywhere else.

The smallest of the foursome spoke up, his face just a little uncertain. "Yeah but… is it really worth it? I'm all for stealing things, but how much can some big space rock really be worth?"

The white haired man, Black, looked livid at the man's statement. The other two looked annoyed as well.

"You fool…" Black growled at him, making him wince back. "Is there a single brain cell floating in that hunk of junk you call a skull?"

"Everybody knows that Remnant has an extremely dense upper atmosphere. It's so dense, that anything that tries to enter from space is burnt up in almost an instant from the friction of entry." Black explained, though he more growled his every word. He wasn't a goddamn school teacher, he shouldn't have to explain something so simple to someone just a few years younger than him.

"Because of that, it's pretty much impossible for anything to leave or enter the planet."

The dark-skinned man spoke up, nodding with his words. "We have in our possession a large meteorite that made landfall almost entirely intact. There is no known mineral on Remnant that could do the same."

The small man's eyes lit up, amazement in his expression. "So you're saying we have some super-metal in our hands now?"

Black's grin was both venomous and ecstatic, glad that he finally understood the beauty of what was before them. "Its something all right. I don't know what it is, but I know it's incredible. ...And I'll sooner die than let it in the hands of those bastards in Atlas."

The group stared at the crate containing the meteorite again, marveling at the sheer possibilities within.

The short man nodded appreciatively. "I don't know what you're gonna do with it, but personally I'd want a sword made out of meteorite just for the bragging rights."

While crude, Black couldn't deny that the man had a point. He wasn't certain just what the meteorite could do for him, but even if he just fashioned a weapon out of it he knew it would be leagues beyond what a normal weapon could ever hope to be. No longer was he constrained to the frailty of Remnants resources. He, and he alone, could go far beyond the bounds that this world had.

With this, the future was _his._

"Move it into my workshop. I'll crack open its secrets one way or another." Black said with finality, gesturing toward the gathered men to get the crate lifted back into the air.

The wild-haired man sent him a warning look. "I won't stop you, Mister Black. But we at least feel the need to warn you about what you're doing."

The look Black sent him for interrupting his moment was scathing, to say the least. "...What do you mean."

"Our entire retrieval team fell into a coma once they got back." The man gravely said, his face stiff as stone. "Whatever that meteorite did to them, it wasn't good. Just being near it put them down. ...We aren't sure if they're going to wake up."

Eight men, all collapsing into shivering heaps with weak pulses at the same time. To say the sight was unnerving was an understatement. Was it radiation? Some sort of toxin? There was no way they could know, and they didn't have the foggiest idea how to help them out of their unending sleep.

"The same could happen to you."

Black scowled, but didn't allow himself to lose his cool. Annoyed at their doubt or not, he owed them for the part they played in obtaining the meteor. He would at least have to show them respect, grudging as it was. However, if he continued to imply he wasn't up to the task, Black would kill him here and now. Partners or not.

"I'll be fine, Calhoun."

"As you say." Calhoun bowed, saying no more on the matter. Perhaps he realized Black's mounting annoyance, or maybe he just didn't care enough to warn him again. Either way, he dropped the matter, leaving the white-haired mans fate in his own hands.

Once again, the metal hooks tightened up, even more foundry workers joining the crowd to lead it away. The crate soon disappeared behind heavy doors, the loud noises and activity of the factory slowly returning with its disappearance.

"We will be taking our leave now, Mister Black. Good luck. Although he couldn't be here, Mister Torikku wishes you luck as well."

The three men stepped in front of Black and bowed deeply, Calhoun in the center. His razor sharp grey eyes met Black's own crimson ones. "Should you ever require our services again, do seek us out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Mysterious characters are on the move, plot points(?) are being established, and bonds are being fully fleshed out.
> 
> This chapter was especially difficult to write, for a variety of reasons, but I'll simply chalk it up to my limited knowledge on RWBY and my hesitance to introduce plot points while still remaining ambiguous on whats actually happening. Though, Im sure some of you can make some good guesses.
> 
> I have A LOT of ideas now cooked up for this story, but slowly advancing to them without overwhelming you readers is pretty tough. Plus, I've gotten sidetracked by a few story ideas that stole my attention. So, sorry for the long wait. The next chapter will have a long wait too, mostly because it'll be in a form I'm not used to writing in. ...Probably.
> 
> Thank you for your patience. Lets continue to make sweet music together.


	7. Chapter 7

**Some time later...**

Yin's morning began as it always did, the gentle thrum of his vibrating alarm clock rattling against his dresser pulling him from his deep dreams. Cerulean eyes blinked open easily, the blessedly dim room soothing his groggy eyes as he slowly pushed himself up and stretched his arms high above him. Mercifully, his bed was empty this morning, and he was free to slide his legs over the edge of his bed and begin his morning rituals in earnest.

With his face cleaned, his hair fixed, and a toothbrush fitted between his back molars Yin smoothly padded through his room on slippered feet, dodging a toy sword that he had half a mind to snap over his knee. Coming up to the only window in his room, he parted the shades and peered outwards. There wasn't a dollop of snow to be found; instead, an almost ethereal mist had moved in- thick tendrils of white fog that hazed along the tops of the pine trees to obscure the distant horizon and wet the grass with long stretches of drippy dew.

Winter break was coming to a swift end, and Spring was marching across Patch in earnest. 'The Rainy Season' as Summer liked to call it. 'Prime Frog Hunting Time' Yang would call it.

He sighed and promptly sealed the blinds. He wasn't looking forward to the jaunts through the rain Yang would surely drag him through in the coming days. Lessons would be beginning again soon, and it was doubtless Yang would capitalize on their free time.

He turned away and focused on finishing off his tasks, making a mental note all the while to cut his nails later.

Breakfast was the same as always, if a little more subdued than usual. With Summer off on another job, there was no one to play foil to Taiyang, or to fawn endlessly over Ruby. The matriarch of the family just had a natural presence that seemed to inject life into every moment. Maybe it was because of her charisma; the woman possessing an almost stellar ability to handle her children and husband- assuaging their worries or fanning the flames of their interests with little more than prodding words. If Yang expressed interest in styling her hair in a new way, Summer knew just how to encourage and assist her with it. If Ruby wanted to hear more stories when she had none, the older Rose could probably find a way to spin an already told story in a way that made it even more captivating than it had been when it was first heard.

Even Yin was not immune to her abilities. She knew exactly when he needed assistance in understanding something, or when to offer him a comforting presence when he was hurt or sick. She knew when to leave him be when he was annoyed, and understood when he just wanted a little solitude- never pushing for him to leave his shell more than he wanted to. He really liked that about her, he had no trouble admitting.

Yin polished off the cereal and watched as the rest of his family spread out to do as they pleased. Free time, no clear goal or objective for the day. Just time for everyone to do as they pleased. Moving into the living room, he offered a cursory glance to the new fireplace that some workers from a village down the way had gladly built for them. Something about them owing his father or whatever. All that mattered was the living room was whole once again.

Snatching a book from the cases, he settled down into the middle of the couch and kicked his legs up over the new coffee table. The pages felt crisp and new between his fingers, his uncalloused fingers gliding gently over its rigid spine as he practically sunk into the cushions of his seat. A mirthful smirk pulled at his juvenile cheeks as his eyes cast a quick glance over the pages spread before him.

' _No pictures. I'm moving up in the world'_

For a long moment, there was nothing but him and the book. He wasn't worrying about the future, he wasn't lying to cover his bases, he wasn't studying the strange being inside of him, he was just… relaxing. Which was strange, because Yin did enjoy doing things. He enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment that came from getting things done, even if they were only as menial as simple chores.

That was part of why he enjoyed reading in the first place. It wasn't just an escape- a way to distract his young and impressionable mind. But there was also a keen sense of progress every time he delved into a book and drifted past page after page. He could _feel_ his mind sharpen with every new word he learned. It was the best of both worlds. Relaxation _and_ a sense of accomplishment.

How did the kingdoms differ? Why was Atlesian history and culture geared toward such a more militant mindset than other places? How did the kingdoms even come about? Were they just settlements sheltered from the Grimm that had naturally grown into the spanning behemoths that they were today? Did all of the kingdoms come into power around the same time? If so, why? If not, then why were they all almost equal in power and influence? If Mistral were to form before Vale, wouldn't it make sense that they would be larger and more powerful than its sister kingdom?

Each book, whether based in history, technology, or mythology, was like that. A never ending rabbit hole that spanned off into so many branching directions that it was nearly impossible to keep track of all the questions. Yin liked questions, at least, when they were intelligent and served purpose. But he liked _answers_ even more. Divining them with contextual evidence or already possessed knowledge, or just coming to a final electrifying answer at the end like the conclusion to a mystery novel. Every answer he came to was that sweet pay-off for all the time he sank into reading.

"Yin."

He sighed, his head ducking down as he lamented over his bad luck.

Sending a withering look up, he was greeted by the sight of his twin sister, still clad in her sleepwear, staring meaningfully at him. The girl's long blonde hair sat on her shoulders now, and her lavender eyes were bright despite her apparent lethargy.

He raised a questioning brow, lowering his book to give her his full attention. The girl gestured to him with the scroll in her hand, "Move."

A vein appeared on his forehead. In an instant, any semblance of a good mood evaporated from him.

"Move…?" He trailed off, making it clear what he wanted from her.

"Before I move you." She gave him a closed eye smile, tilting her head in what could have been mistaken as a cute gesture.

Yin looked utterly unimpressed, both at the display and her lack of shame. If she thought she could threaten him into moving she had another thing coming. They still had an almost equal ratio of win/losses against each other in sparring despite her aura, trying to muscle him into doing her bidding wasn't going to work any time soon. If not because of his own stubborn nature, then by his pride as a man and a Xiao Long.

Even if his dad did let Summer walk all over him.

She must have realized that, because she soon huffed and heaved an exaggerated groan. "Move, _please_ " Dragging out the last syllable, she gave him a sour look and an impatient tap of her foot.

It was good enough. Just a year ago, that word wasn't even in her vocabulary. He would take what victories he could.

"Was that so hard?" He asked, already picking himself up out of the comfortable cushions so he could slide all the way to the end of the couch. He parked himself against the armrest, his small frame fitting into the corner and freeing up more space.

Yang didn't deign him with an answer. Instead she all but pounced onto the couch, her body rolling in midair as she fell into the cushions. Yin gave a grunt when her head impacted his lap, her long golden locks spilling out across his sleepwear while her feet kicked up against the unoccupied armrest. Like that, Yin was delegated to a glorified pillow for her to rest her head on.

She looked pleased by his annoyance, sticking her tongue out at him before picking the scroll up and focusing on some video pulled up on it.

A comfortable silence settled. Yin returned to reading, his arm propped up on the armrest holding the book out for him to see, while his other hand toyed with Yang's blonde hair mindlessly. The little girl herself was engrossed in the video on the scroll, occasionally turning it upwards to show her brother part of it or giggling quietly to herself. Normally he would be incensed by the further interruption of his alone time, but he just couldn't find it in himself to get angry. He supposed he didn't really mind it all that much this time.

"What do you think mom's doing now?"

He was so entrenched in a passage that he almost didn't hear her. The young man paused, and sent her a curious look.

"Getting anxious?" His eyes slipped back to the book. He was in the middle of the climax and all the tension would be gone if he stopped reading now.

"No," her answer was unsurprisingly adamant, as always, "I'm just curious. She's been gone for awhile this time."

"Hmm… she's been gone for longer before."

And it was true. Summer could be out working as a Huntress for up to months of time with very limited contact. Yin didn't know much about the job outside the superfluous tales they had been told, but he expected that long treks across undomesticated land and drawn out confrontations to be a part of it. A Huntress was facing the very manifestations of evil after all- an almost infinite tide of malevolent creatures. Spending months away was no surprise. The two weeks she had been gone this time were nothing in comparison.

The scroll lowered, clutched to her chest as a wistful expression appeared on the little girl's face. "...Maybe she's taking down some huge, old Grimm right now."

Yin wasn't nearly so elated by the idea. His dad had constantly expressed to them just how dangerous every individual Grimm was in their ferocity and combat strength. How even the most basic of the monsters could pose a very real threat if underestimated, and to never approach one unless absolutely certain they could handle them- I.E, not until long after they began formal training at an academy.

It was solid advice, however it painted a contradictory picture when compared to the dramatic tales of their mother cutting swathes through armies of Grimm and single-handedly eradicating ancient Grimm with nothing but her trusty blade. Were Grimm supposed to be a constant threat, or were they little more than annoyances for her?

He wasn't gullible enough to take those stories at face value. But he did hope that there was a kernel of truth to them all the same. It would definitely let him rest easier.

The problem was that he had no frame of reference to really believe that. It was hard to understand just what the benchmark was for a powerful Huntress when he had never even seen a Huntsman, much less a Grimm, in action. Yin was not someone who dealt in belief or faith, he preferred cold facts and irrefutable evidence. Trusting Summer to be fine was well and good, but it was much easier to have faith in her abilities if he could really understand them.

Books could only tell so much, and everyone he knew well enough to ask would have their opinions colored by bias. An unfortunate side-effect of being born into a family of Huntresses.

Yang pinched his side furiously, nearly making Yin sling his book across the living room in shock. His entire body erupted in goosebumps and his heart-rate skyrocketed as if he had been zapped by a live circuit. His train of thought was abruptly brought to a crashing halt.

"What the hell, Yang?!"

"Stop ignoring me, Yin! You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" Yang complained, scowling up at him.

His ire wavered, eyes glancing away hastily as he realized that, yes, he had utterly blocked out Yang. Not purposefully of course, but he still did it. How long had she been talking without him even noticing?

Belatedly, he realized her glare had grown rather similar to his own scowl. No longer was it a glare of petulant annoyance befitting of a child, but a smoldering gaze that made her displeasure crystal clear. It was more than a little unsettling, and reminded him to be wary of her semblance.

While not as mystical or dangerous as his own, Yang's semblance was certainly something he had to always be conscious of. Luckily, to this day Yang had never brought the full brunt of her semblance to bear on him. Not on purpose or accidentally.

Still, it wasn't quite a match for **Sheer Heart Attack**. For all her strength, Yang was always just a step behind him in many ways. Where he failed in brute strength, he made up for in wit and craftiness. Many a spar that he surely should have lost was turned in his favor by quick thinking and dirty fighting that Yang just couldn't match up to yet. Yang's strength and semblance leveled the playing field to a degree, but that was mostly only because he lacked both an Aura and a semblance that he could feasibly use.

If Yin was actually willing to turn his power on his twin, he was quite certain it would be a very short fight indeed.

"Ugh… You're making that stupid smirk again." Yang sighed beneath him, rolling her eyes.

Unconsciously, his hand flew up to cover his mouth. "...W-what? What smirk? What are you talking about?"

"You know," Yang began, waving a hand flippantly, "whenever you go quiet like that, you make this real snooty smile. It's pretty obvious you're thinking something arrogant right now."

"...You're lying. I dont have such a stupid tell."

There was no way. He always made certain to keep a tight leash on his emotions, and to never let them leak out. He wouldn't believe it for a minute.

"Oh, c'mon! It's clear as day what you're thinking! I bet you're talking up your skills in your head _right now_." Yang chortled, more than pleased to notice his ears turn the barest shade of red. "For someone who can't even use a computer, you've got a pretty big head."

He turned a venomous glare on his little twin, and reigned in his desire to yank her hair in retaliation to her insult. Barely.

He wanted to retort, to deny and tell her that he _could_ use the computer. That he only didn't like to because all the colors and rules of using the internet hurt his head. But it was a hollow argument and he knew it. If he tried to defend himself now he would only be solidifying the claims in Yang's eyes.

Discretion was the better part of valor. His dad would agree.

The little girl preened arrogantly when he backed down, already jotting it down as a win in her book. Her lilac eyes stared up at him as he pointedly stared into the far corner of the room, most likely internally fuming. The truth was that she fibbed; Yin really didn't make a dumb face when he was thinking hard. But Yang _could_ tell what he was thinking pretty easily, regardless of his stone-like face. Reading Yin was just one of her many 'skills,' and she had no qualms with using it to get under his skin.

Yin eventually returned to his book, though his heart wasn't really in it anymore. Already he felt that his patience was being tried, and it wasn't even noon yet. He attempted to focus, but Yang still continued to stare up at him even as he tried to ignore her.

"...What?" He finally muttered, fed up with the prying look.

"I was just thinking…" he was already worried, great. When Yang adopted that serious tone, it really only ever spelled trouble for him. "You need to hurry up and get your weapon, Yin."

That… wasn't exactly where he was expecting the conversation to go, but it still set him on edge. His eyes narrowed minutely, having heard this line of questioning more times than he cared to remember, "I'm not in a hurry to make a decision."

"You should be!" Yang protested, shooting down the same excuse he had been making time and time again. "You keep… um…"

"Procrastinating?" he supplied, not fully paying attention to her once again.

"Yeah! You need to hurry up already. You wont get into beacon with me if you don't have a weapon, you know?"

He stiffened. His body going eerily still while his hand gripped the book hard enough to crease its pages. He looked like a beowulf caught in headlights. It wasn't so much that he was utterly shocked— he had seen the conversation heading this way after all. But his sister still threw the curveball faster than he was expecting, and in his hurry to appear as if absolutely nothing was wrong, he gave away a few tells. His face froze up and went blanker than it had before, and his body involuntarily clenched to try to force itself into a state of normality.

Yang, who was in such close proximity to him, noticed the change immediately. She blinked in confusion. His legs were rigid now, and hardly a comfortable pillow in her opinion.

"Yin? What's wrong?"

"I-Its nothing." He deflected, looking away while forcing the tension out of his body with the same ease of deflating a balloon. But Yang wasn't buying it. He had thrown the line out, even if only accidentally, and she had snatched the bait before he could reel it back in. A softer, more concerned pinch assaulted his side.

"No, seriously, you look spooked. Did you eat something bad again?"

"I didn't. It's just…" His eyes darted around, searching for a tactful way out of his situation. No matter how he looked at it, this whole conversation was bad news for him. It was something he wasn't nearly prepared enough to handle right now. He prayed for any way out; Taiyang to call for him, Ruby to interrupt as she was want to do, or even a call from Summer. Anything.

As his eyes darted around, he found salvation in the worst way possible. A smudge of color in the corner of the room, staring daggers at him.

"Zwei…"

"Zwei?" Yang parroted, turning on the spot to stare in the same direction, then hurriedly stifling a giggle. "Oh… Zwei."

Zwei was the newest addition to the already bloated family tree. A pet dog- a black and white corgi with a wild fur coat that was unbelievably soft to the touch. The dog first became a part of their family when Summer rescued it from some Grimm that had prowled a little too close to the edge of the forests. At the time, it was badly injured- thick sprawling claw marks and oozing gouges marring its body in innumerable places before she dispatched the dark monsters. Summer had done her best to get it back to the home fast and patch it up, but there was only so much that could be done.

The sight of such a cute animal in such a poor state nearly broke Yang and Ruby's hearts. Yin had to applaud the dog for its perseverance in even surviving an encounter with Grimm in the first place. But he fully expected it would pass away quietly come morning.

It didn't. Through some means or another, the dog pulled through. The deep injuries faded away in a matter of weeks, until they were little more than tiny scars hidden beneath its fur. Summer, Ruby, Yang, and even Taiyang were pretty much attached to the animal the moment its health began improving, and Ruby was adamant that the dog was to remain a permanent member of the family.

The newly named Zwei had no objections. It was so attached to Summer and, by extension, Ruby, that Yin doubted any force in the world would be able to make it leave. Yin didn't object either, the dog would make a good guard he supposed, it didn't shed all that much, and with it around Yang and Ruby might have someone else to set their sights on for once. To him, it was a win-win.

There was only one problem though.

Zwei _hated_ him.

Yin didn't really know what he did to make the dog despise him as much as it did. But every time he tried to approach the mutt, it would always either growl at him or launch itself into his chest like a missile from hell. Whenever Yin found himself roaming the house in the early mornings, he would always have to watch out for the pet that liked to nip his ankles when he was distracted. If Yin was anywhere near Ruby, Zwei would be there, muscling in to put itself between them. And more than once he found some of his favorite books torn to shreds.

And every time he brought up his complaints- every time he demanded the stupid animal be thrown out for good, it would always act demure and turn those unbearably large eyes upward. Each time it did that, any argument he gave fell apart- nobody else in the family could bring themselves to scold Zwei, not when it acted so cute.

" _I know he can be a bit tough, Yin, but come on… Look at those eyes. Can't you tell that he feels bad about what he did?"_

No. He didn't. Because when he tried to forgive the dog, he was certain that it would turn and give him what could only be described as a smug sneer.

Zwei hated him, and in turn he hated the damn animal.

So when he spotted Zwei in the entrance of the living room with the tattered remains of one of his shirts clenched between its teeth, he felt that the sudden molten spike of rage in his chest could be forgiven.

Yin growled and shot to his feet, inadvertently sending Yang tumbling to the floor.

"Wha- hey!"

He ignored her, and began stomping after the black and white corgi. Noticing his approach, Zwei instantly turned tail and darted off- his tiny feet pattering across the wooden floorboards. Yin sprinted right after him. Their house wasn't particularly huge by any means, so he was left giving chase at a hurried jog— forced to slow down at every corner and be mindful of the scattered furniture.

"Hey! Drop that, now!" Zwei didn't seem to register his order. If anything, the little pest picked up even more speed— now bouncing off corners to send itself flinging down the hall when it turned.

Yin winced as his slippers slid while taking a corner, sending him careening into a wall with enough force to tremble the pictures hung up there. It was only a momentary lapse in focus, an attempt on his part to find a way to cut the dog off, and Zwei capitalized on it to confuse him into taking a corner too hard. The boy growled, already pushing himself up to renew the chase, though he did have to hide a slight limp.

The dog was too damned fast. Even with all the training his father put him through, Yin was still always just a step behind the dog. His graspings hands always fell just short when he reached out to snag Zwei's collar. Whenever he did manage to corner him, Zwei would simply dart between his legs, nearly bowling the poor kid over with its quick reflexes.

It was simply unnatural how fast the dog was, its boundless energy more than making up for how tiny its legs were. It was unnatural how cunning it could be, cutting corners with such precision that it left Yin in the dust.

It was unnatural how big a pain in the ass it was!

"Bark!" Zwei yipped sharply, rushing past the dining room table with Yin hot on his heels. Unfortunately, the tattered shirt clutched in its teeth managed to snag the leg of one of the chair's next to the table like a lashing whip. When Zwei rushed past, the shirt pulled the chair out, sending it screeching out into the middle of the hall.

Directly into Yin's path.

Yin had absolutely no time to dodge out of the way. With blue eyes wide and mouth hanging in disbelief he crashed into it, his shins striking the obstacle with impunity. Unfortunately, with his small body, his weight barely made the chair budge. Instead of knocking it over, the young boy flipped right over the seat- his legs knocked out from under him as he careened directly into the floor with the full force of his inertia.

"GAAAHH!"

* * *

Taiyang sighed, pulling his arms out of his car's exposed engine block after finally fastening down a greasy bolt that had given him no end of trouble. The retired Huntsman pulled away from the sea of tubes, clasps, and metallic gears and wiped away the sweat piling up on his brow. Then, he grimaced, realizing that he smeared oil on his forehead. The blonde stared at his tarred up hands, wondering how to clean them now that he was fairly sure his spare rag was lost for good somewhere in his car's engine.

His hands hovered close to his shirt, moments away from wiping them on it, before he pulled back hastily.

"N-no… Glynda gave me this shirt. She would kill me if she found out."

Maybe it would have been a more thoughtful gesture on his part if he didn't notice that the shirt was already dotted with errant stains of oil and fluid. If he wished to preserve the shirt, he probably should have taken it off _before_ beginning the dirty work. Cursing internally, he resolved to drench it in bleach later and wiped his hands down the front- basically ruining it forever.

Taiyang glanced over the engine, pleased with his work. Of all his team members, he had always been the most mechanically savvy. He was a combat Huntsman at heart, but he couldn't deny the joy he derived from just getting to work on some engine or generator. Years of disassembling heavy bullhead engines had given him quite an insight on how to handle a wrench- his boxy family van engine was nothing in comparison.

Summer was good too, but her skills were geared more toward weapons than vehicles. She could perform a field repair on armor and weapons like it was nothing, but hand her a manual for a three cylinder car and tell her to change the brake lights… she would probably end up converting the whole thing into a single use kamikaze weapon. That wasn't even to mention how out of her element she was in dealing with anything to do with mechanical work. The last time she went to get parts for a bullhead repair, the store owner had nearly swindled her into buying a gallon of blinker fluid.

Taiyang almost drove the man out of business that day.

Qrow and… his sister… were more likely to destroy an engine than fix it. For very different reasons.

Shaking himself out of memory lane, Taiyang leaned against the car and gazed out over his front yard. The sky was what really caught his attention; a canvas of grey clouds that stretched on for miles. Fall in Patch always had a bad habit of appearing gloomy in some ways, but he rather liked it. It was like the sky was always on the cusp of opening up- either to set the forests awash in rain, or gleaming sunlight.

Ah… he must really be missing his wife. He was being all verbose in his mind when he didn't even need to be. Maybe he should take the kids out into the nearby village? Yang's favorite restaurant had a special on rainy days, and he himself was already itching to take the car on a spin.

…..

Taiyang blinked, eyes roving around as he stood a little straighter. An errant gust of wind slipped through his sweaty hair, cold with the smell of the distant rain it carried.

"That's weird… The wind kind of sounds like Yin's voice."

Well, he was surely imagining it. He must have been getting sentimental. Whenever he thought of Summer, his kids weren't too far from his mind.

* * *

"I… Said… Stop…" Yin growled, staggering after the tenacious menace. His hand cradled a spreading bruise over his nose, his eyes nearly slitted with boiling rage. Reclaiming his shirt was just about the furthest thing from his mind. If things went his way, he would make a new one out of Zwei's pelt.

After another sharp corner nearly sent him sprawling, Yin had had enough. Sapphire eyes narrowing, teeth bared and a flame burst to life in his chest. A familiar image appeared in his mind, a skull face peering deep into his eyes with cold, righteous fury. His limbs instantly grew warmer, his head clearing into sharp focus as he issued a final clear command.

" **Stop!** "

Or else.

Zwei's nails dug into the floor, an awful screech piercing the air as the dog ground itself to an instant halt. He slid for a moment longer before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the hall. Yin stomped up and once he towered over Zwei, the dog sat down on its rear- the shirt obediently falling from its mouth with a _thump_.

Yin stooped down and snatched the dog up by the scruff of its neck. He didn't struggle like he usually would, and his grey eyes stared back demurely at Yin's confused blue.

That was… odd. Zwei never stopped for his demands before, and he was fairly certain the dog would soon throw itself from a cliff before it allowed Yin to carry him. So why the change now? It was such a stark drop in attitude, that Yin was left uncertain.

"Clever bastard…" He muttered, shaking the dog with a low grunt, "Did you know you were in danger?"

Yin had been moments away from blowing the mutt sky-high and damn the consequences. No matter how fast Zwei was, he couldn't outrun **Sheer Heart Attack**. Did he sense the imminent danger? It didn't seem likely, not when even Taiyang couldn't sense his semblances presence. But the proof was dangling right before him, making him second guess himself. Summer always did say that animals were more perceptive than people could be, but he had never taken it seriously.

Well… At least he knew how to get Zwei to behave now.

"Now, what to do with you?" Zwei stared back at him, both incapable and unwilling to answer. To be honest, this was the first time he had ever caught the dog. So he was at a bit of a loss as to what to even do with him.

Scolding Zwei wasn't his problem, the dog wasn't even _his_. He would leave that to Zwei's actual owners. Seeing as how Summer was out at the moment, that only left one candidate.

Hoisting Zwei up higher, Yin ignored the ragged remains of his shirt and stomped up the stairs. Passing across the banister hallway, he came up on his sister's door. It was easy to tell the bedrooms apart due to the obscene amount of posters plastered over it- weapon manual clippings, hazard signs, and a crayon drawing that vaguely looked like a depiction of either him or Taiyang, but he couldn't be sure. Giving a few raps on the wood, a muffled shout of surprise echoed from inside before he pushed his way through.

Somehow, the room was even more colorful than the last time he had been in. Ruby had finally started going through a 'decorative phase' and just about everything on her side of the room had a special touch that just screamed her. A giant plush bunny that seemed to fill an entire corner of the room, and a thick stack of comic books just the tip of the iceberg. The little girl herself was on the ground, basically upside down with her legs resting on her bed. Her wide silver eyes stared up at him, the latest edition of her weapon manual momentarily forgotten.

"Yin?" She looked pleasantly surprised to see him. Rarely did he ever voluntarily stop into her and Yang's room. She had gotten more acquainted with her big brother's room in the last few months, but she still hadn't managed to convince him to spend a night here.

He didn't respond verbally, only hefting Zwei for her to see. He pinned the dangling dog with a glare.

"Eep!" Ruby scampered to her feet, crimson petals scattering with the action. Fretful worry colored her face as she raced up to her brother. "Yin! Don't hold Zwei like that! You'll hurt him!"

"Oh? Will I?" He gave Zwei another shake, "Good. The little pest deserves it."

"N-no~! He's just a baby, Yin! Let him go!" Ruby hopped up and down, trying to grab Zwei even as Yin lifted him far out of her reach.

"He ate another one of my shirts, Ruby." Yin growled. Ruby came to an abrupt stop, her eyes widening comically large. "And he took me on a hell trek around the house. I thought I told you to keep him out of my room."

"I...I did? …maybe." Ruby chuckled uneasily, swirling a foot on the ground while avoiding eye contact. The girl quickly broke into a frantic sweat when Yin's seething glare narrowed harshly on her.

Giving a panicked cough into her fist, she turned the most authoritative glare she could ( _which is to say, not authoritative at all_ ) on the dangling pet. "Zwei! Yin doesn't want you in his room anymore, please please don't be mean to him anymore. I want you two to get along!"

Both Yin and Zwei rolled their eyes at the same time.

Ruby pouted, seizing Zwei's fluffy cheeks while turning her voice into a scolding tone that was hauntingly similar to Summer's, "I want you two to get along… Please try to be nice to Yin. Okay?"

A pregnant silence passed before Zwei's tail wagged twice. Yin stared at it dumbfound and Ruby beamed vibrantly.

' _Was that supposed to be a nod?'_

"..." Yin grudgingly handed the dog to Ruby, the girl snatching him from his grip as if he were going to steal him away again. She whispered soothing words to the mutt, coaxing its fur to smooth out with gentle brushing strokes. The anguished boy massaged the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling exhausted despite how early it was.

"Well… Since you're here, do you wanna look through some of mom's manuals with me?" Ruby chirped, already putting the event far from her mind. "Qrow brought some new ones from… erm… the sandy place, that I haven't read yet."

Sandy place… she could only be talking about Vacuo. That actually caught his interest, and for a moment he almost wanted to agree. Against his better judgement, he had gotten more interested in weapons lately. Not out of any fanatical dependence like Summer or Ruby, but out of a more practical desire to learn more about them. Specifically, to learn more about a single mechanism.

However, he still needed to apologize to Yang for throwing her off the couch. The girl was probably poised to punish him for what he did, and delaying it any longer would just make her even more vindictive.

"Maybe later." Yin dropped his hand, releasing what seemed like the hundredth sigh that day. "I—!"

Yin staggered away, his back striking a desk hard enough to pound it against the wall. His hands snagged harsh, locked grips on the edge of the wooden desk- his fingers turning alabaster white with the force. His mouth slackened, parting with abject surprise that was reflected in his wide pools of blue. His entire face paled, freezing in cold-blooded horror. The kind that set hearts thudding in backbreaking tempos and sent freezing chills racing down the spine.

The boy remained rooted to the spot, his eyes locked with terror on what was before him- as if he couldn't look away. It was little different than the sheer shock that paralyzes a man on the spot when an oncoming car threatens to run them down— anchored in place, even when running away was the best option. The edges of his vision dulled, his entire focus centered entirely on a single sight: Ruby holding Zwei close to her chest, the dog resting securely in her arms as they both stared at him.

"Y-Yin?" Ruby stuttered, shocked by his sudden movement. She had never seen him act like that before, and found her blood chilling. Ruby stared up at his stricken face, confusion swirling in her stomach as she took a slow, hesitant step toward him.

When she moved, he pulled back. His hand raised protectively in front of him as he clenched his teeth anxiously. She stopped abruptly, as if slapped.

Ruby was at a loss, an utter blank stretching across her mind as she mentally panicked. She didn't know what to make of the sudden change in Yin, or what it even meant. All she knew was that Yin was displaying an emotion he almost _never_ did. Terror. Pure, abject horror on a level that she had never experienced before. And it was pointed at her. There was no room for doubt, no misunderstanding; he was looking directly at her.

He was afraid… truly afraid. Why? Was it like that time in winter? She hugged Zwei tighter, glancing anxiously around for a Grimm she couldn't see. If that were the case, then it would be okay, right? Her dad was here after all, he could save the day if another of those strange monsters came again.

...Right?

"Yin…" She tried again, and this time her voice seemed to finally get through to him. His gaze snapped back into focus, his eyes blinking rapidly as his expression began to ease. "What's wrong?"

Whatever gripped him finally seemed to disappear. With the same suddenness that it appeared, the bout of earth-shaking terror evaporated until not even an inkling of its presence could be found. If his hands weren't so clammy, he almost could have believed he had imagined it all. Yin slowly slipped his white knuckles from the desk, still looking uneasy, but now more confused than terrified. Ruby shared his expression, though she seemed to be brimming with worry that threatened to breach the surface— only held back by her own hesitance.

"I...I dont…" Yin murmured, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed thickly. Ruby amended her assessment; Yin didn't appear confused, he looked _lost_. Not in the sense of forgetting where he was, but rather in that he had no clue what to do with himself at that moment. For someone so sure of himself— so confident— it was an unsettling sight, like watching a hurricane bowl over a mountain. He sent the little girl a hesitant glance before turning away with grit teeth.

"...Just keep that dog away from me."

With that weakly muttered order, he marched out of the room, shoulders hunched and brow furrowed. She wanted to follow after him, to try and do anything she could to help him— and he needed help, that much she was sure of— but she couldn't. Her feet felt like they were rooted to the ground. No, it was more like her _legs_ were rooted to the ground. She kept internally yelling to get her legs to move, to take a step forward and grab his sleeve, anything. But every signal she sent seemed to fizzle out and die before it even reached her knees.

The door slammed behind him, rattling the wall and making Ruby jump in fright. She stared dubiously at where he went, her youthful features pinched in worry. She hugged Zwei a little tighter, the dog looking just as perturbed as she did. Slowly, she raised a hand and nibbled on her finger worriedly.

* * *

"Dad?" Ruby murmured, watching her father meander around the kitchen, making a batch of cookies. The smell was absolutely intoxicating, far more than any wine ever could hope to be (she assumed,) and she nearly lost her train of thought if it weren't for Taiyang's curious glance. "Did you… ever find that magazine?"

"Magazine?" He questioned, sliding the pan back into the oven, only sparing the aligned fire dust a critical glance before sealing it back up. Even if he was still skeptical of Yin's tale, that didn't mean he shouldn't be cautious all the same.

Ruby glared at him cutely, peeved that he forgot. "The one I've been asking for, dad. Did you really forget?"

He tapped his chin, trying to recall what magazine she was talking about. Normally he was better at remembering the nonsense that his daughters asked of him, but sometimes it just happened to slip his mind. That didn't mean he could just let himself seem like a forgetful old man. Letting them think he was getting scatterbrained with age would just lead them to being more rebellious.

Or so Qrow said. But seeing as how the man didn't have children of his own and probably didn't know the first thing about taking care of one, the advice was all but worthless.

"Hmm… Well, what's the rush kid? I know you still have a lot of editions left to read through. Why do you want another one?"

She shook her head, sending her bi-colored hair around, "It's not for me. Yin's the one who wants it, so I want it."

Taiyang nearly dropped a can of sugar, floored by the statement. "Yin wants it?"

"Uh huh. I think he's in a bad mood today. So I wanted to get it for him and cheer him up."

Well, with such a virtuous reason how could he deny her? Yin always had his bad days every now and then, so he was all for Ruby trying to lift his spirits. Adopting a thinking pose, Taiyang wracked his mind. Ruby assumed the same pose, even if she wasn't really thinking that hard.

It came to him like lightning. "Ah! Right, I did ask Summer about that for you. The Atlas one right?"

Ruby beamed. Progress! Sweet, chocolate-chipped progress! "Yep! Do you have it?"

"Well, sorry kiddo, but I think your mom tossed it out."

Just as quickly as it rose, Ruby's spirits plummeted. If she knew what a rollercoaster was, she would certainly liken her emotional state to it. "What?! Why?!"

"I know your mother usually keeps those magazines around for a long time, but she gets rid of them when they're no good." Taiyang nodded, leaning onto the kitchen counter. "That magazine you're looking for is useless, so she must have gotten rid of it."

"Useless?" Ruby couldn't understand. How could a weapon _ever_ be considered useless? She would have thought her mom had made a mistake if she didn't know that was impossible.

"Right. After all, Grimm dont have body heat. So heat-seeking weapons aren't really all that useful."

Atlas had been rather proud when they rolled out that line of weaponry. Unfortunately, the scientists over in the cold kingdom seemed to have placed more emphasis on the creative portion of innovation, rather than the actual effectiveness of it. The end result of a long few years of research ended up with a weapon system utterly useless to Huntsman, the biggest and most profitable market for new weapons.

Of course, they were still rather effective in waging _other_ kinds of war. But that was a can of worms he had absolutely no intention of opening with his youngest daughter. Better to let her maintain her innocence for as long as possible than to burden her with the horrors of war.

"Okay..." She guessed she could see the reason now. Still, it was definitely unfortunate. "Yin's gonna be dissapointed…"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> An abrupt ending, but frankly I couldn't stand to work on this chapter anymore. I've been procrastinating it for awhile, and I finally got the drive to see it all the way through, but boy did it burn me out.
> 
> I addressed a lot of the things I wanted to get fleshed out and I had to admit some of these parts were pretty fun to write up. But I spent so much time editing and adding substance where there really was nothing to build off of, that I just want it to be over with. Its not my best work by far, but I need it out of the way so I can start on the next one. Reviews and criticism are always appreciated.
> 
> The next one is gonna be long and with school I wont have much time to work on it. So it'll take quite a bit to finish.
> 
> But its also gonna be good. So prepare for that. ;)

**Author's Note:**

> A current pet project of mine that I have been having fun writing, now cross-posted over from FF.net.


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